Trump, Wall Street Journal Spar Over Afghan Pullout

Trump insists WSJ is 'fake news'

President Trump took to Twitter to angrily condemn the Wall Street Journal Monday for a weekend editorial critical of his Afghanistan policy, suggesting he was making decisions “impulsively” in the ongoing war.

Trump fired back that the US has been in Afghanistan for 19 years, and that anything done at this point is “hardly impulsive.” He went on to suggest that the Taliban is mixed on if they want the US to withdraw, arguing that the Taliban makes a fortune on the US presence.

Trump has been reported for months to be keen to wrap up the withdrawal from Afghanistan, a plan called for by the recent peace deal, and the Pentagon has confirmed that the pullout is on schedule. This has been resisted by some military brass, as well as hawkish press outlets.

Trump went on to declare the Wall Street Journal to be “fake news” over the editorial, while bragging about the popularity of his press briefings, noting the Wall Street Journal‘s editorial didn’t mention just how popular he is.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.