Retired Army Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster, who used to serve as the national security adviser under ex-President Donald Trump, has pointed out that Trump shares part of the responsibility for the chaotic U.S. military exit from Afghanistan.
Since the withdrawal in late August 2021, President Joe Biden has been under fire from Trump and other GOP members. This event came just days after a devastating ISIS-K suicide bombing near Kabul’s airport, tragically claiming the lives of 13 American service members and over 170 Afghan civilians.
Recently, Trump attended a memorial service at Arlington National Cemetery to mark the third anniversary of the attack, directly criticizing Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. Both Biden and Harris acknowledged the anniversary with separate statements honoring the fallen.
While Biden oversaw the withdrawal, it was actually the Trump administration that negotiated the deal with the Taliban in 2020. After most U.S. troops left under Biden’s leadership, the Afghan government and military quickly collapsed as the Taliban advanced.
In an interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper, McMaster indicated that Trump’s choice to negotiate with the Taliban directly contributed to the fiasco. “Oh, yes,” McMaster affirmed when asked about Trump’s accountability for the situation. He questioned the rationale behind engaging the Taliban: “If we were gonna leave, why not just leave?”
He criticized the approach, suggesting that the negotiations compromised the Afghan people’s safety, particularly citing the release of 5,000 Taliban fighters during the process. McMaster clarified that this was a decision made under the Trump administration, directly impacting the U.S.-backed Afghan government.
He remarked, “Comrade Kamala and Crooked Joe Biden are directly responsible for one of the biggest blunders in American history and they can’t gaslight their way out of the truth,” pointing to the ongoing fallout from the withdrawal.
Alex Wong/Getty Images
This interview coincided with McMaster promoting his upcoming book, At War With Ourselves: My Tour of Duty in the Trump White House, slated for release on Tuesday. The peace agreement that laid out the U.S. troop withdrawal roadmap was signed in February 2020 in Doha, Qatar, with the Taliban agreeing to maintain counterterrorism commitments.
Since the U.S. exit, the Taliban has regained control over Afghanistan, facing global criticism for its human rights abuses, particularly against women and girls. As Republicans seek to pin the blame solely on Biden and Harris, they often overlook Trump’s significant role in crafting the withdrawal plan. Notably, the Republican National Committee has even removed praise for Trump’s agreement from their website during this ongoing debate.