President Trump has once again condemned the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, calling the decision to leave military equipment behind “stupid” and attributing it to poor leadership under the previous administration.
Speaking during a meeting at the White House with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman — his first visit to the United States since 2018 — Trump said that a portion of the trillions of dollars invested in the US military was “left behind” in Afghanistan during the 2021 exit.
“I rebuilt our military my first time, and we spent trillions of dollars, and we gave away some of it in Afghanistan stupidly to stupid people around our country. But we gave away a bit of it. As much as it was, it’s a tiny fraction of what we put here,” Trump said.
The Pentagon has previously estimated that US military equipment left in Afghanistan during the withdrawal was worth roughly $7 billion, including vehicles, aircraft, and weapons systems. Trump has repeatedly criticized this outcome and has occasionally called for the return of Bagram Air Base, which was once the largest US military installation in Afghanistan.
Earlier this year, Trump said the United States had initiated conversations with the Taliban to regain access to Bagram. However, the proposal met swift resistance from regional powers including China, Russia, Iran, and Pakistan, as well as from the Taliban, which firmly rejected the idea. Since then, the White House has not revisited the topic publicly, and no formal Afghanistan policy has been announced by the Trump administration in its current term.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid has accused Pakistan of attempting to manufacture regional crises as a pretext to facilitate a potential US return to Bagram. He has also alleged that American drones continue to enter Afghan airspace via Pakistani territory — a claim that Pakistani military officials have categorically denied.
The US withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021, carried out under President Biden, continues to be a polarizing subject in American foreign policy. While the Biden administration defended the decision as a necessary end to a 20-year war, critics — including Mr. Trump — have framed it as a strategic failure that empowered militant groups and left behind vital resources.
Prince Mohammed’s visit was met with a warm reception from Trump, underscoring their previously close relationship.
