U.S. Troop Withdrawal from Afghanistan continues to pose challenges for Biden and Harris as yet another military leader voiced concerns over Trump's policies
A fresh insider perspective on Donald Trump's presidency as commander-in-chief raises concerns about his previous leadership style, continuing a trend of criticism from ex-generals who served under him.
Trump, on the other hand, has sharpened his critique of the Biden administration and Vice President Kamala Harris specifically, accusing them of the haphazard conclusion of the U.S.'s long-standing war in Afghanistan, despite the fact that this strategy was initially conceived during Trump's tenure.
'Competitive Loyalty'
The latest account of Trump's presidency comes from Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, who served as his national security advisor. Unlike other military officials who served under Trump, McMaster had refrained from publicly criticizing his former boss post-White House.
CNN's Peter Bergen discusses McMaster's new book, “At War with Ourselves: My Tour of Duty in the Trump White House.”
A Series of Generals Criticizing Trump
Add McMaster's account to the growing list of generals who have voiced their concerns about their time in the Trump White House, including retired Marine Gen. John Kelly, Trump's chief of staff; retired Marine Gen. James Mattis, Trump's defense secretary; and Gen. Mark Milley, Trump's chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
And on Monday, more than 200 Republicans who previously worked for former Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, former Sen. John McCain or Sen. Mitt Romney added their signatures to a letter encouraging their fellow party members to support Harris for president.
Among those who signed the letter are former George H.W. Bush chief of staff Jean Becker; former McCain chiefs of staff Mark Salter and Christopher Koch; and Olivia Troye, the former homeland security advisor to Vice President Mike Pence.
However, Trump is leveraging a perceived failure within the Biden administration to bolster his case for another term in office.
Afghanistan Marks a Low Point for Biden and Harris
Politics were not directly mentioned at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia on Monday when Trump commemorated the three-year anniversary of the deaths of 13 American service members in Afghanistan, but these deaths are often cited on the campaign trail.
Family members of some of the fallen service members appeared at the Republican National Convention in July and criticized Biden.
Speaking on CNN on Monday from Fort Liberty, North Carolina, Paula Knauss Selph, the mother of Army Staff Sgt. Ryan Christian Knauss, who was killed in the attack, had strong words for Biden.
“This administration has tried to sweep it under the rug, and that’s not going to work for this nation,” she said, holding Harris “responsible to the same extent as President Biden.”
The service members, along with over 100 Afghans, died in 2021 in a suicide bombing outside the Abbey Gate of Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul at the tail end of two decades of direct American military involvement in Afghanistan.
The Taliban now controls Afghanistan.
The decision to withdraw US service members was made by Biden, and it occurred under his watch. Republicans, including Trump, have turned the chaotic and deadly withdrawal into a domestic political issue against Biden and, indirectly, Harris, who is running against Trump in November to replace Biden.
At a stop in Virginia after his appearance at the cemetery, Trump pointed at the people who died as being "killed, in the most embarrassing moment in the history of our country, Afghanistan, because we had an incompetent president with incompetent people leading it, and every one of those people should have been fired."
Another round of Dismissals
Speaking later at a National Guard conference in Detroit, Trump reiterated his intention to dismiss every senior military official involved in the withdrawal.
Contrastingly, Harris, in a statement commemorating the 13 American deaths, said, “I mourn and honor them.” She also praised Biden for making “the courageous and right decision to end America’s longest war.”
However, the truth is more complex.
Trump had promised to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan during his presidency. His administration initiated the withdrawal process by negotiating and signing a deal with the Taliban in 2020, which required the withdrawal of US service members from Afghanistan.
After losing the presidential election, Trump fired his defense secretary at the time, Mark Esper, dismissed many top officials at the Pentagon and attempted to hasten US withdrawals, both in Afghanistan and Europe.
Biden delayed the withdrawal of service members in Europe but only by a few months, while Trump had planned to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan despite worsening ground conditions and rapid Taliban gains.
A Sworn Promise to End Conflicts
While Trump criticizes Harris and Biden for leaving Afghanistan, he has also sworn to be the president who will end all wars.
At the National Guard conference, Trump stated that Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, desire "endless wars."
He also received the endorsement of Tulsi Gabbard, a former Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii who served in the Iraq War in the Army National Guard and ran for president as a Democrat in 2020. Gabbard, now an independent, selected Trump, she claimed, because he did not initiate new wars during his tenure – rhetoric that resonates with a 2023 endorsement of the former president in The Wall Street Journal by Sen. JD Vance, who argued that Trump's foreign policy was his most significant achievement.
Vance now serves as Trump's running mate, and his endorsement signaled a shift by Republicans towards eschewing efforts to promote democracy in other countries.
It's undeniable that the Afghanistan withdrawal was a flop. A State Department Post-Operation Evaluation Summary pointed out faults in both the Biden and Trump administrations, contributing to the mishap.
Republicans from the House Foreign Affairs Committee have initiated their assessment, likely to be more critical of the Biden administration – although a reviewer recently stepped down from this task, claiming that the committee Republicans refuse to assign any blame towards the US military, including Milley.
CNN's Aaron Pellish provided additional information for this report.
This story has been updated with further investigations.
Trump's criticism of the Biden administration's handling of the Afghanistan withdrawal extends to Vice President Kamala Harris, accusing them of a haphazard conclusion to the long-standing war, despite the strategy initially being conceived during Trump's tenure. This incident raises questions about the politics surrounding the exit from Afghanistan.
The criticism from Trump and ex-generals who served under him highlights the complex politics surrounding his presidency and the Afghanistan war, with Republicans leveraging the perceived failures to bolster their case against the Biden administration.
