President Donald Trump will address the nation Monday night in a speech regarding America’s future in Afghanistan and South Asia, the White House announced Sunday.
The president has been deliberating for months about what to do with America’s longest war in history. Eleven American troops have died in Afghanistan in 2017 as the war nears its 16th year anniversary. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement that President Trump will speak Monday night at 9 p.m. from Fort Myer in Arlington, Virginia.
“I am very comfortable that the strategic process was sufficiently rigorous and did not go in with a pre-set position,” Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said about Trump’s decision.
The U.S. has faced setbacks in Afghanistan as a resurgent Taliban continues to strike against coalition forces. The commanding general in the nation, Gen. John Nicholson, said in February that the U.S. needs to deploy a few thousand more troops to Afghanistan in order to stave off these losses.