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EXCLUSIVE: Former President Trump said there has "never been a greater embarrassment" to the United States than the Biden Administration’s "rushed" withdrawal of military assets from Afghanistan, telling Fox News that the U.S. has "an incompetent person as the leader of our country."
Trump, in an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital, reflected on Sept. 11, 2001, calling it a "terrible day in our history," but he pointed to a "terrible week in our history recently."
"To have that embarrassment to take place in Afghanistan with the same people who did the damage 20 years ago — it is the greatest embarrassment in the history of our country," Trump said.
"There has never been anything like this. It looks like we fled, and it is all because we have an incompetent person as the leader of our country," Trump told Fox News.
Trump, who brokered a deal with the Taliban as president for a May 2021 troop withdrawal, said this "never would have happened" under his administration.
"I didn’t even stick to it because I wanted to get out by May 1, and when they violated conditions, we bombed and did a lot of things," Trump said. "They adhered to one condition— don’t kill Americans or soldiers."
Trump added: "We hadn’t lost a solider or an American in 18 months in Afghanistan. It was going along very well."
The Biden Administration removed all U.S. military assets from Afghanistan on Aug. 31, after the country fell to the Taliban.
"They never would have come anywhere near us. It wouldn’t have happened, they wouldn’t have taken over anything," Trump said. "They knew that if they did, they would be bombed into hell."
He added: "They knew that — and that’s why they never would have come in to fill this vacuum."
President Trump gives the thumbs-up as he boards Air Force One. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster/File)
Trump said that when the Biden administration began drawing back U.S. forces, "we created this big open wound, a void, and the Taliban just came in and filled it, and within 24 hours, they controlled the whole country."
"When I heard they were taking the military out, I thought, that’s inconceivable," Trump said.
When asked whether he had words of comfort for Gold Star and military families and veterans, Trump replied: "It would be easier, and probably more politically correct, for me to just say, ‘hang in there,’ and just, ‘something will happen.’"
"But they should be very angry," Trump said. "They cannot feel even a little bit good or optimistic, because we have an administration that doesn’t know what they’re doing."
Trump said that there is "no way this should have ever happened."
"They should have never taken the military out first—you take the military out last, after all of the people are out," Trump said, referring to the American citizens and Afghan allies left behind after the U.S. military evacuation mission, which expired on Aug. 31. The Biden Administration has said the mission has transitioned from a military mission to a "diplomatic" one.
"No man, no woman left behind," Trump said. "But we left, what could be, thousands."
The State Department is currently working on a diplomatic mission to evacuate the known American citizens in Afghanistan, which they say is a total of approximately 100 individuals, and Afghan allies.
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On Thursday, the White House announced the safe evacuation of Americans from Kabul to Qatar, and said the Taliban was "cooperative" and have been "businesslike and professional" as administration officials work to evacuate Americans. The White House called that dialogue a "positive first step."
Reacting, Trump said that the Biden Administration "looks like fools," calling their rhetoric "sad and pathetic."
"These are the people that knocked down the World Trade Center. These are the people who have treated people so inhumanely, so badly," Trump said. "I mean, we have been fighting them for 25 years, and to think that they’re now reliable?"
The former president went on to slam the Biden Administration for leaving behind what he estimated was $85 billion worth of military equipment. Trump predicted that the Taliban is sending any damaged U.S. equipment to China and Russia for repair.
"We had tremendous airpower, which they now have, and it's not even believable," Trump said, questioning why the Biden Administration left U.S. aircraft in Afghanistan.
Trump went on to tout the military’s success under his administration in bombing and killing Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and in destroying the ISIS caliphate.
"I got rid of 100% of the ISIS caliphate, Soleimani, al Baghdadi," Trump said. "Everybody gone."
Asked about his administration’s success in brokering the Abraham Accords, the peace agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates that normalized relations, Trump replied: "We would have had peace in the Middle East."
"But the U.S. looks like a bunch of fools right now. We look like we surrendered," he said. "We look like we ran."
Looking to the future, Trump said that the United States has to "move forward."
"We have no choice—we have to do what we have to do," Trump said. "We’re an embarrassed country, and we’ve never had anything like this."
He added: "We’re not respected anymore….We're disrespected all over the world."
"I can’t tell you how serious that is," Trump said.
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Meanwhile, as for his plans on 9/11, Trump said he would be traveling to Manhattan.
"It is very depressing," Trump said. "This was supposed to be a day of victory."
"Now it is a day of embarrassment," he continued. "How do you have this happen?"
Trump added: "I think Biden rushed it to try to claim victory, and now, he looks like a fool."
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