President Donald Trump Visits Troops In Afghanistan, Says Taliban Peace Talks Resuming

Bruce Haring

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President Donald Trump made a surprise visit to Afghanistan on Thanksgiving to address the troops at Bagram Air Field, his first visit to the war-torn country.

The President also made news on another front, saying that peace talks with the Taliban have been re-ignited.

“I just want to say that we thank god for your help and all of the things that you’ve done. You’re very special people and you don’t even know how much the people of our country love and respect you,” Trump said to the assembled troops.

Bigger news was that the Taliban talks are back on. “We will see if the Taliban wants to make a deal. … If they do, they do,” Trump said. “If they don’t, they don’t.” A ceasefire would have to be a part of any deal, which the President saying he believes the Taliban will agree to those terms.

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The renewed talks come after a planned meeting in September fell apart. The President said then that talks were “dead.”

The President of Afghanistan, Ashraf Ghani, met with President Trump, but did not make a public comment on the Taliban talks.

Trump landed in Afghanistan at 11:03 a.m. EST on Air Force One. The trip was made out of a Florida airport and took 13 hours.

Before speaking, the President dined on turkey in the mess hall with some troops. The trip is an escalation from last year, when the President stayed in the US but spoke to the troops on the phone.

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