President Trump’s national security adviser Robert O’Brien said a couple thousand troops will remain in the Middle East through Christmas.
On Friday, O’Brien clarified that approximately 2,500 troops will be in Afghanistan beyond Christmas despite the president saying that all men and women serving there “should” be home by Christmas.
“We should have the small remaining number of our BRAVE Men and Women serving in Afghanistan home by Christmas!” Trump tweeted just before the vice presidential debate on Oct. 7.
We should have the small remaining number of our BRAVE Men and Women serving in Afghanistan home by Christmas!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 7, 2020
“He was expressing the same desire that every president since the Revolutionary War has said. All presidents, all GIs, want the troops home by Christmas,” O’Brien explained. “We’re on a path right now that looks like about 4,500 this fall and a smaller number in January or February, but if the conditions permit it, we’d love to get people out earlier.”
O’Brien also took aim at Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who told NPR an increased troop withdrawal is “speculation” by O’Brien and that he’s “going to engage in the rigorous analysis of the situation based on the conditions.”
“It has been suggested by some that that’s speculation. I can guarantee you that’s the plan of the president of the United States,” O’Brien said Friday. “That’s the order of the commander in chief. That’s not speculation.”
