US troops in Afghanistan should be home by Christmas: Trump

Just hours after US President Donald Trump’s national security adviser said American forces in Afghanistan will be down to 2,500 by early next year, Trump issued a post on Twitter stating all troops should be home by Christmas. 

Trump said on Twitter: “We should have the small remaining number of our BRAVE Men and Women serving in Afghanistan home by Christmas!”

A few hours before Trump’s tweet, national security adviser Robert O’Brien said the United States had less than 5,000 troops in Afghanistan currently and would go down to 2,500 by early next year.

“Ultimately, the Afghans themselves are going to have to work out an accord, a peace agreement. … It’s going to be slow progress, it’s going to be hard progress, but we think it’s a necessary step – we think Americans need to come home,” O’Brien said.

Reuters reported that it was unclear whether Trump was giving an order or verbalizing a long-held aspiration.

But Trump, who is seeking re-election next month, has made walking away from “ridiculous endless wars” the cornerstone of his foreign policy.

In February, the US-brokered a deal with the Taliban in Doha that was conditions based and included the full withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan. Since then troop levels have reduced from 13,000 to 8,600 with a further reduction to 4,500 expected by November. 

O’Brien stated however that there were currently less than 5,000 troops in Afghanistan but no confirmation or details on this issue has so far been released. 

However, testifying before a US House of Representatives committee last month, US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad said that once the number of US troops reached 4,500, the administration “would do an evaluation of ties and actions that we have taken and make decisions on that.”