On Thursday’s broadcast of Fox News Radio’s “Brian Kilmeade Show,” President Trump stated that the U.S. will keep a presence of 8,600 troops in Afghanistan if a deal with the Taliban is reached.
Trump said, [relevant remarks begin around 10:20] “We’re going to keep a presence there. We’re reducing that presence very substantially, and we’re going to always have a presence. We’re going to have high intelligence, and I will put this word out, and I’ve already said it, but if they ever did anything from Afghanistan, we will come back with a force like they’ve never seen before.”
He later added, “[W]e’re going down to 8,600, and then we make a determination from there as to what happens. We’ll make a determination, but we’re going down to 8,600. We’re bringing it down.”
Trump further stated that the drawdown will only occur if a deal is reached.
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