'Most Botched Up Mess I've Ever Seen': Trump Relentlessly Slams Biden Over Afghanistan Withdrawal

During a cabinet meeting Tuesday, President Trump spoke about former President Biden's withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Transcript

00:00We had Afghanistan, which I think was the most embarrassing moment in the history of our country.

00:05And we would have gotten out. I was the one that got them down.

00:08I would have kept Bagram, the big air base, which right now is controlled by China,

00:12among the most powerful runways in the world, thick, thick, with concrete and steel.

00:19Anything could land. And right now, they were one hour away from where China makes its nuclear weapons.

00:24I was keeping it. Outside of that, we were leaving.

00:27And I would have been out faster than them, but we would have gotten out with strength and dignity

00:31and said that was the most botched-up mess I've ever seen.

00:35They left all that equipment behind.

00:37And every year, they have a parade running down some third-rate street with the equipment.

00:42You know, it's supposed to be Fifth Avenue. It doesn't work.

00:45But with all that equipment that they left, they should have taken every ounce of it.

00:49I was taking every ounce. I said every screw, every bolt, every nail, you take out of there.

00:54And Millie said, I remember one time, sir, we're better off leaving the equipment.

01:00Why?

01:01Well, it's cheaper. I said, cheaper?

01:03You mean it's cheaper to leave a $150 million airplane rather than flying it into Pakistan or India or someplace,

01:10or just flying it straight home? It's cheaper?

01:12Yes, sir. That's when I knew he was an idiot.

01:14It didn't take long to figure that one out.

01:17But they left all that equipment, but they left their dignity behind.

01:21It was the most embarrassing moment, in my opinion, in the history of our country.

01:25Not that we got out. We should have not been there.

01:28But that we got out the way we got out with great embarrassment and death.

01:32You had 13 young people. I've gotten to know their families very well.

01:36But you had hundreds of people killed that nobody talks about.

01:39You had the other side. Many people were killed.

01:41Many people are walking around with no legs, no arms, from that whole thing.

01:46They left from the wrong airport.

01:47They should have left from Bagram because Bagram was a big base with hundreds of miles of, you know,

01:53fencing and territory around it.

01:55Nobody would be able to get near it.