Trump: Taliban Knows Biden Is 'Weak' - I Would Have 'Blown Them Away with F-18s'
Forty Five slams Biden for using 'zero resistance' on the Taliban
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President Donald Trump has spoken out on the crisis in Afghanistan by stating that the Taliban has become emboldened enough to seize Afghanistan because they know Democrat Joe Biden is "weak."
Trump says the terrorist group was "under perfect control" during his presidency because he warned the Taliban leader that they'd be hit with the full force of the United States military if they stepped out of line.
The 45th president says the Taliban knew "they would have gotten blown away by F-18" fighter jets had they tried to take Kabul while Trump was in charge.
However, Trump says the Taliban's successful takeover is because they know Joe Biden is too weak to punish them.
During an appearance on Sean Hannity's Fox News show, Forty Five spoke on the deal he says he made with Taliban's political leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar.
"Abdul, as I like to call him, Abdul was just going to wait on us," Trump revealed.
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Trump argued his administration "had them totally under control."
"Every time we saw movement we hit them with an F-18 and the movement stopped," he said of keeping the Taliban out of Afghanistan.
"Before, they would've gotten blown away. (Now) zero resistance," Trump said as he called Biden's decision to take the US military out of Afghanistan "the dumbest move anybody has ever made perhaps in the history of our country, allowing this to happen."
"This country has never seen stupidity like this and our country is really in trouble," Trump said on the segment.
"It's only going to get worse...
"We had something where they didn't get near us, they were petrified of us," he added after suggesting that this is no longer the case.
He attributed the Taliban staying out of Middle Eastern country to the deal he cut with Abdul - "who turns out to be the leader" - in Doha, Qatar, in February of last year.
"I dealt with the leader of the Taliban," Trump said.
"This is not a very simple man.
"This is not a boy scout, to put it another way."
WATCH:
President Trump spoke to the Taliban leader nine times over the course of 18 months before they settled on an agreement.
"This is a tough, hardened person that has been fighting us for many years, and we are using them now to protect us? Look what happened with their protection," he added.
He then said he thinks the Taliban "couldn't believe it" when they heard the US military was "leaving and pulling out of the war."
"In my opinion... they sent some fighters in and they was zero resistance," he said, claiming he "had everything under perfect control" before "Biden came in and they saw weakness."
"He (Biden) didn't do anything," Trump said in frustration.
"And they took over and then we ran out and we've just destroyed the image of America, of our great country, of our incredible warriors - and they are incredible warriors but they still need leadership at the top and they don't have it."
Trump, who released a presidential-style statement on the suicide bombing screened at the start of Hannity's show, also told how the rescue efforts to get American soldiers out of Kabul "is about withdrawal."
"It is not about getting out because getting out is something," he said, calling the entire crisis a "disgrace" and blaming Biden for the death of 13 Americans in Kabul.
Meanwhile, Trump insisted that, if he were reelected, his administration would've upheld the terms of his agreement with the Taliban and "you would have seen something very nice."
"Nobody would have even realized we had gone," he said.
"Everybody would have been out.
"The equipment would have been out.
"I would have blown up all of the bases," he added.
"We would have kept Bagram because of China and Iran and Afghanistan - to a much lesser extent - and literally nobody would have even known."
Trump harshly criticized the Biden administration for veering off his original plan with Abdul, which said the US was to get out of Afghanistan in 14 months and, in exchange, the Taliban agreed to stop attacking US military members while stopping Afghanistan from becoming riddled with terrorists.
The Taliban also agreed to start working towards a peace agreement with the Afghan government and consider a cease-fire.
Instead, "we have been put in the worst position we could possibly be put in," Trump told Hannity during the hour-long segment.
"It's hard to believe, actually, because a child would have understood.
"You get the military out last.
"A child would have understood that.
"How could they have done this to our country?"
As a result, "the Taliban and others are dictating," Trump said.
"They are the ones saying get out on the 31st.
"I think Biden wanted to stay," he added, claiming the leader of the Taliban told Biden: "We want you out by the 31st of there will be consequences."
"What kind of stuff is this?" Trump questioned in disbelief, shocked that people he had "at bay to a level that you wouldn't believe" have now killed American soldiers.
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Trump repeatedly described the events unfolding in Kabul not only as "so sad" but also as "the most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to our country."
"We look like fools all over the world," he added.
"We are weak, we are pathetic, we are being led by people that have no idea what they are doing."
He cited how Biden "botched" his plan "and took the military out first" rather than last, leaving $80billion worth of equipment behind.
The Taliban now has "the best equipment, best rockets, best tanks, and helicopters," Trump said.
"This country has never seen stupidity like this and our country is really in trouble."
