The President is facing a lot of backlash since announcing on Twitter that he was going to secretly meet with the Taliban days before the anniversary of 9/11 — but then called it off abruptly after being surprised that they were still as violent as ever.
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
….an attack in Kabul that killed one of our great great soldiers, and 11 other people. I immediately cancelled the meeting and called off peace negotiations. What kind of people would kill so many in order to seemingly strengthen their bargaining position? They didn’t, they….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 7, 2019
The criticism came from all sides as both Democrats and Republicans voiced their concerns.
There were complaints about the timing of the proposed talks, just days before the anniversary of 9/11. The fact that Trump wanted to invite members of the Taliban to Camp David didn’t sit well with anyone.
Never should leaders of a terrorist organization that hasn’t renounced 9/11 and continues in evil be allowed in our great country. NEVER. Full stop. https://t.co/pagnRFuFtc
— Adam Kinzinger (@RepKinzinger) September 8, 2019
"Imagine if Barack Obama had invited the Taliban to Camp David just a few days before the 9/11 anniversary…Republicans in Congress would be drawing up articles of impeachment."
My full interview on @msnbc today, on Trump, the Taliban, & the Afghan war disaster.#TalibanTrump pic.twitter.com/mgY5HoSIyg
— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) September 8, 2019
Negotiating with the Taliban is something that many believe lies somewhere between difficult and pointless, and even Trump criticized former President Obama for doing it in the past:
While @BarackObama is slashing the military, he is also negotiating with our sworn enemy the Taliban-who facilitated 9/11.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 13, 2012
MSNBC put up this tweet as a graphic Monday, and their expert panel slammed Trump’s ignorance and incompetence. Former GOP congressman Joe Scarborough called Trump a “such a patsy for Vladimir Putin, for Kim Jong-un and now the Taliban.”
Prior to his tweet that called off “peace negotiations,” Trump seemed to be on the brink of a deal that would end the 18 bloody years of fighting in Afghanistan. The Taliban had promised they would not harbor terrorists or attack leaving troops. America could declare victory and peace in Afghanistan could finally start to arrive.
According to the New York Times, negotiations had progressed:
The deal called for a gradual withdrawal of the remaining 14,000 American troops over 16 months, with about 5,000 of them leaving within 135 days. In return, the Taliban would provide counterterrorism assurances to ease American fears of a repeat of Sept. 11 from Afghan soil.
But Trump ruined any progress he had made with a flurry of Saturday morning tweets. In a statement released by the Taliban on Sunday, they mocked the President’s tweets, claiming that it painted America’s “political interactions as erratic.”
Trump has long boasted of his “deal-making” abilities, but as these peace talks and his own track record has shown that he is much more skilled at breaking them than making them. Unfortunately, his role as U.S. President means his lack of skills have consequences that ripple out across the world.