President Donald Trump tweeted Saturday night that he called off a secret peace meeting between leaders of the Taliban and the President of Afghanistan at Camp David.
The president said that he immediately canceled the meeting and called off peace negotiations between the two groups after the Taliban claimed responsibility for an attack in Kabul that killed 12 people, including one American soldier.
Trump tweeted, “Unbeknownst to almost everyone, the major Taliban leaders and, separately, the President of Afghanistan, were going to secretly meet with me at Camp David on Sunday. They were coming to the United States tonight.” (RELATED: Trump Says US Could Wipe Afghanistan ‘Off The Face Of The Earth’ In 10 Days If He Wanted To)
Unbeknownst to almost everyone, the major Taliban leaders and, separately, the President of Afghanistan, were going to secretly meet with me at Camp David on Sunday. They were coming to the United States tonight. Unfortunately, in order to build false leverage, they admitted to..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 7, 2019
He added, “Unfortunately, in order to build false leverage, they admitted to an attack in Kabul that killed one of our great great soldiers, and 11 other people.”
….only made it worse! If they cannot agree to a ceasefire during these very important peace talks, and would even kill 12 innocent people, then they probably don’t have the power to negotiate a meaningful agreement anyway. How many more decades are they willing to fight?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 7, 2019
Trump said he “immediately cancelled the meeting and called off peace negotiations.” He continued, “What kind of people would kill so many in order to seemingly strengthen their bargaining position? They didn’t, they only made it worse! If they cannot agree to a ceasefire during these very important peace talks, and would even kill 12 innocent people, then they probably don’t have the power to negotiate a meaningful agreement anyway.”
The president ended the thread by asking, “How many more decades are they willing to fight?”
Back in July, during an interview with Tucker Carlson, Trump admitted he would like to pull U.S. troops out of Afghanistan, saying, “I’ve wanted to pull them out. And you know, I have pulled a lot out. We were at 16,000. We’re down to about 9,000, which a lot of people don’t know.”
He added, “But when you’re 19 years, you’re really becoming like a police force. So we have pulled it back. We’re actually negotiating with various people. But we want to get out. We want to get out of a lot of areas that we’re in. We shouldn’t be there. We shouldn’t be there. We’re the policeman for the whole world.”