'Who gives a s--t about Afghanistan?': Trump stunned officials with his comments during a military briefing, former aide says
- President Donald Trump bemoaned a US-led coalition mission to provide aid to Afghanistan and derailed a conference meeting with top military officials last year, according to an upcoming book written by former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis's aide.
- "Seriously, who gives a s--t about Afghanistan," Trump remarked, according to Guy Snodgrass, a retired US Navy commander and Mattis's former speechwriter. "So far we're in for $7 trillion, fellas ... $7 trillion including Iraq. Worst decision ever and we're stuck with it."
- Snodgrass, who was assisting Mattis with PowerPoint slides for the president, said he prepared his presentation by taking into account Trump's propensity to dislike slides with "too much information."
- Instead of injecting complicated military information for the briefing, Snodgrass writes that he opted for the "more straightforward approach: just pictures."
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President Donald Trump bemoaned a US-led coalition mission to provide aid to Afghanistan and derailed a meeting with top military officials last year, according to an upcoming book written by former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis's aide.
During the January 2018 meeting at the Pentagon with all of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Trump was briefed by Mattis on the Defense Department's strategies and internal assessments, Guy Snodgrass, a retired US Navy commander and Mattis's former speechwriter, said in his book, "Holding the Line: Inside Trump's Pentagon with Secretary Mattis."
Snodgrass, who was assisting Mattis with PowerPoint slides for the president, said he prepared his presentation "of paramount importance" by taking into account Trump's propensity to dislike slides with "too much information." Instead of adding statistics and explanations to the briefing, Snodgrass writes that he opted for the "more straightforward approach: just pictures."
Mattis started the briefing by noting that Trump had "inherited a military that has languished for a long time."
"After years of reduced defense budgets and continuing resolutions, you can now ask for more money from Congress as it fits within your strategy," Mattis said, according to Snodgrass.
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Mattis also mentioned to Trump a looming government shutdown, which would eventually play out two days after the meeting for a duration of three days.
"To be clear: you'll have no strategy if [Congress] shuts down the government in the coming months. Trying to implement a strategy without a fully enacted budget is a hallucination, nothing more. This is the situation you inherited," Mattis said.
As Mattis went on, Trump shook his head and demurred, "just terrible ... terrible situation," Snodgrass recalled.
Mattis continued his brief without stopping, until he mentioned the US's strength in relying on its allies.
Trump interrupted by railing against the North Atlantic Treaty Organization for not spending as much on defense compared to the US. NATO members have a guideline of spending 2% of their gross domestic product on defense by 2024. The US, one of 29 NATO countries, spends about 3.4% of its GDP on defense, or 69% of overall defense spending amongst NATO members due in large part to America still being the world's largest economy.
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Snodgrass admits Trump was making "a good point" until the president derailed his talking point.
Trump, referring to himself in the third person, referred to NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg and said, "Stoltenberg is by far the biggest fan of Trump."
"You know, I blame everything on the Democrats," Trump added before glancing at Mattis. "What about Afghanistan? How are we doing over there?"
Mattis began speaking before Trump interrupted again.
"We're really not helping ourselves ... we're helping everyone else out there," Trump said, according to Snodgrass. "You know, Kazakhstan is a very rich country. On my last visit they kept saying, 'Oh thank you, thank you.' Well, why aren't they paying us? Why aren't they fighting?"
Trump was visibly "not impressed" by the previous efforts of the US and its allies in the stabilization of Afghanistan, Snodgrass wrote.
"Seriously, who gives a s--t about Afghanistan," Trump remarked, according to Snodgrass. "So far we're in for $7 trillion, fellas ... $7 trillion including Iraq. Worst decision ever and we're stuck with it."
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday morning.
Nearly a year before the briefing, Trump spoke out against the US's military spending in the Middle East and cited a $6 trillion figure, an amount that he appears to have misinterpreted. Trump initially claimed in 2017 that the US spent $6 trillion for military action in the Middle East, but would later raise the amount to $7 trillion.
"We have spent more than $7 trillion dollars in the Middle East," Trump said at the State of the Union address in February 2019.
The amount Trump often cites appears to reference a study's future projection - based on the wars on terror in Iraq and Afghanistan, which is in South Asia - that includes debt interest and veterans' benefits up to 2056.
Snodgrass, a former Top Gun instructor and an F/A-18 pilot, served as Mattis's chief speechwriter for 17 months. He resigned after infighting with other senior members of Mattis's staff.
Mattis, a retired four-star Marine Corps general, would later resign in December 2018 after serving as defense secretary for nearly a year. In his resignation letter, Mattis said he was no longer able to carry out Trump's policies and that as the commander-in-chief, Trump was entitled to "a Secretary of Defense whose views are better aligned."