On Aug. 18, three days after the Taliban seized control of Kabul but eight days before 13 U.S. service members were killed by a suicide bomber, ABC’s George Stephanopolous asked President Joe Biden about what advice he received on leaving a residual force in Afghanistan.

“Your top military advisers warned against withdrawing on this timeline,” Stephanopoulos said. “They wanted you to keep about 2,500 troops.”