Trump’s patience with the conflict has steadily decreased in recent months, and he was particularly angry after two US soldiers were killed when a member of the Afghan security forces opened fire on US troops during a joint patrol in early February. Days later, Trump, who has often commented on the burden of writing letters of military condolence, traveled to Dover Air Force Base to witness the return of the soldiers’ remains, a grim nighttime ceremony punctured by the desperate cries of a widow.
The book recently released by former Trump national security adviser John R. Bolton confirms what has become increasingly obvious. Bolton relates numerous cases in which Trump, making liberal use of expletives, asked his exasperated advisers when he could end the country. “We have to get out of there,” recalls Bolton, who said Trump in March 2019.
Trump took a key step in that direction on February 29, when Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and a Taliban leader signed an agreement in Qatar under which the United States would begin a gradual withdrawal of troops in exchange for stopping Taliban attacks against the Americans. forces and the start of political talks between the insurgent group and the Afghan government.
The signing came just days after authorities said intelligence about Russian rewards appeared in Trump’s daily intelligence briefing. Some Trump officials were concerned that intelligence could jeopardize the Taliban deal. Whether for that reason or others, officials say Trump was not verbally informed about it at the time.
That deal has been fraught with setbacks, including an untimely increase in Taliban attacks against Afghan targets, a prisoner swap between the Taliban and the Afghan government that has taken months longer than expected, and an Afghan election with controversial results that paralyzed the government. from the country. .
In a sign that Trump is determined to move on, Pompeo spoke in a video conference Monday with Taliban deputy chief negotiator Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, “to discuss the implementation of the agreement between the United States and the Taliban,” according to a State Department Spokesperson.
“The secretary made clear the expectation that the Taliban will honor their commitments, which include not attacking the Americans,” said spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus. (There is no indication that United States intelligence has linked the Russian rewards to any attack on the Americans since the deal was signed, or that they were known to the top leaders of the Taliban.)
