Trump Hints On Possibility Of Deal With Taliban

U.S. President Donald Trump has  floated the possibility of a deal with the Taliban

after a meeting with senior advisors on Afghan issues.

“Just completed a very good meeting on Afghanistan. Many on the opposite side of this

19 year war, and us, are looking to make a deal — if possible!” Trump tweeted on Friday evening.

Trump met with his cabinet officials and other senior national security advisors at his New Jersey

golf resort to hear a briefing by Zalmay Khalilzad, Washington’s special envoy for peace

in Afghanistan, U.S. media reported.

The White House released a statement about the meeting later in the day, saying the

attendees included Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Secretary

of Defense Mark Esper, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joseph Dunford and

National Security Advisor John Bolton.

“Discussions centered around our ongoing negotiations and eventual peace and reconciliation

agreement with the Taliban and the government of Afghanistan,” the statement added.

The United States and the Taliban are believed close to announcing an agreement on an initial U.S.

troop exit from the war-torn country and plans to start direct talks between the Taliban and

the Afghan government.

Trump has long been grumbling about the U.S. military presence in Afghanistan that started in 2001,

calling it “ridiculous.”

The United States maintained some 14,000 troops in Afghanistan, largely providing training

missions to local Afghan forces while also conducting counterterrorism operations against

terror groups such as al-Qaida and the Islamic State

Source (NAN)