Yuri Kobzar20:45, 18.09.25

Although it was Trump who initiated the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, he is now blaming everything on Biden and promising to correct his predecessor’s “mistakes.”

The United States is trying to reach an agreement with the Taliban regime in Afghanistan to return American troops to Bagram Air Base, Fox News reports, citing President Donald Trump.

Thus, today, while speaking to reporters in the UK, Trump once again criticized his predecessor in office, Joe Biden, for the hasty withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan and stated that he had “breaking news” on this topic.

“We’re trying to win it back. We’re trying to win it back because they (the Taliban – UNIAN) need [certain] things from us. We want to get that base back, but one of the reasons we want to get it, as you know, is that it’s an hour [flight] away from where China makes its nuclear weapons,” Trump said.

As Fox News notes, earlier information appeared in the Western press that the Taliban was allegedly interested in normalizing relations with the United States, since Afghanistan is now in almost complete diplomatic isolation.

Withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan

Although Trump is now accusing Biden of a hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan, it was during his first administration that the United States concluded an agreement with the Taliban movement, which provided for the complete withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan by May 1, 2021. Interestingly, this agreement was reached bypassing the internationally recognized government of Afghanistan, which had been under US protection for 20 years.

After signing the agreement, the US began to gradually reduce its military presence in the country, reducing the contingent from over 13,000 to approximately 2,500 troops by the end of Trump’s presidency.

When Joe Biden came to power in January 2021, he did not violate the agreements with the Taliban so as not to resume the active phase of the war, but he moved the withdrawal deadline from May 1 to August 31, 2021, explaining this by the need for thorough preparation. 

However, in May 2021, the Taliban launched a major offensive against government forces, quickly capturing key provinces. The situation deteriorated sharply in August: on August 15, 2021, the Taliban entered Kabul, then-President Ashraf Ghani fled the country, and the Afghan government effectively collapsed. This led to a chaotic evacuation through Kabul airport , during which the United States and its partners evacuated more than 120,000 people, including diplomats, Western citizens, and some Afghans who had been working with coalition forces.

The last American troops left Afghanistan on August 30, 2021, marking the end of the longest war in US history. At the same time, the withdrawal was accompanied by sharp criticism of Biden for the chaos during the evacuation and the rapid decline of the Afghan army, which the US and its allies had built over two decades, spending hundreds of billions of dollars on it. 

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