Angry Trump Grilled His Generals About Troop Increase, Then Gave In
But his top national security officials were still taken aback at a meeting in the Situation Room on July 19, when an angry
Mr. Trump began ripping apart their latest proposal to send thousands of additional American troops to the country.
White House officials said nothing publicly about the decision,
and Mr. Mattis said he would not send any troops until there was a broader policy in place.
On Monday night, Mr. Trump finally put forward a broader strategy for Afghanistan, one
that would require thousands more American troops but place more conditions on the Afghan government.
Why should we keep wasting our money — rebuild the U.S.!" Before he became a candidate for president, Donald J. Trump was clear about Afghanistan.
Persuaded there were no other options, Mr. Trump became the third American president
to send young men and women into the longest war in American history.
This spring, Mr. Mattis and General McMaster began drafting a plan to send upward of
4,000 additional troops to Afghanistan, beyond the 8,400 that were already there.
