Referring to the 2021 withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan, President Donald Trump said Wednesday that the Taliban “didn’t like” him but “would do anything” he asked.
Speaking at an event in Kentucky, Trump said the Taliban would comply with his requests when he was in office during his first term.
“They didn’t like Donald Trump, the Taliban,” Trump said. “They would do anything I asked them to do. You know that.”
Trump again criticized the US withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 under President Joe Biden, calling it “the most embarrassing day in the history of our country.”
“The most embarrassing day in the history of our country. Embarrassing. Thirteen dead, but hundreds and hundreds are dead. I count both sides. I count both sides. But hundreds and hundreds of people dead,” Trump said.
The withdrawal ended nearly two decades of US military presence in Afghanistan after Taliban forces rapidly retook control of the country.
Trump also criticized the decision to withdraw from Kabul rather than from Bagram Air Base, which had been the largest US military installation in Afghanistan.
“Instead of leaving from Bagram, they left from Kabul,” Trump said.
He also criticized the decision to leave behind US military equipment during the withdrawal, saying it should have been removed before American forces departed.
The Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in August 2021 after the collapse of the US-backed government, ending America’s longest war.
