Last night, President Trump took a quick break from night golfing
to speak to the nation in a major primetime address.
It was a good speech, and he successfully read it.
Fox News Alert: a new strategy for Afghanistan.
President Trump announcing his plan for America's longest war.
REPORTER:
additional troops into the war-torn country.
From now on, victory will have a clear definition:
attacking our enemies,
obliterating ISIS,
crushing al-Qaeda,
preventing the Taliban from taking over Afghanistan,
and stopping mass terror attacks against America
before they emerge.
So one clear...
All right, got it, got it.
Like, I... I'm sorry, look, I know that he's been president
for seven months, but seeing Donald Trump
making military decisions is still weird for me.
I mean, I mean, he must be the first human being in history
who gets to command an army
after
It's just a little strange.
But-but I will say this, I shouldn't pre-judge.
I shouldn't pre-judge. Maybe Mr. Pizza Hut does have a new plan.
The only problem is, the only problem is,
while we do know that Trump has decided to send more troops
to Afghanistan, that's pretty much all we know.
Trump's actual strategy is like his position on Nazis--
it's unclear.
The president gave very few details
about his new strategy for Afghanistan.
It did involve increased troop levels,
but he gave no specifics. He also set no end date.
Very few specifics and even fewer benchmarks.
One way or another, these problems will be solved.
I'm a problem solver.
And in the end, we will win.
Yeah. Trump is a problem solver
the same way Godzilla is a city planner.
-Yes. -(laughter)
(cheers and applause)
The only way.... the only way
Donald Trump could consider himself a problem solver
is if he stops creating problems.
"You guys are so lucky.
"I was about to do something, but I stopped myself.
Problem pre-solved."
(laughter, applause and cheering)
Now... now, last night,
one thing we all noticed was
that we were listening to book-report Trump, you know?
No crazy tangents, no crowd work.
Just complete sentences and coherent thoughts,
focusing on the words.
But-but there were still definitely glimpses
of freestyle Trump.
Terrorists who slaughter innocent people
will find no glory in this life or the next.
They are nothing but thugs and criminals and predators,
and-- that's right-- losers.
(laughter)
"That's right-- losers.
You're in my vocabulary now!"
(laughter)
Even as he is escalating a war,
Trump has to throw in his catchphrase.
Can you imagine if President Obama did that?
Can you just imagine if he was like,
"Our special forces, uh,
"have just killed, uh, Osama bin Laden.
-Uh, bazinga." -(laughter)
(applause and cheering)
Yesterday's speech...
Yesterday's speech was a little surprising from Trump.
First of all,
because he didn't bring up the electoral college for a change,
and... and more importantly, he flip-flopped
on every Afghanistan campaign promise he made, right.
Because, remember, he promised fewer troops,
he promised fewer wars, and he flip-flopped on that.
And to his credit,
he acknowledged the flip-flop straight up.
WOMAN:
he's listening to his generals who say
the way to beat the Taliban and ISIS is
with more boots on the ground.
My original instinct was to pull out,
and historically, I like following my instincts.
But all my life, I've heard
that decisions are much different
when you sit behind the desk in the Oval Office.
In other words, when you're president of the United States.
-Oh! -(laughter)
That's what sitting behind the desk in the Oval Office means!
Being president!
I'm so glad he explained it to us
the same way General Kelly explained it to him.
(laughter)
It's like, who are you?
Oh, and-and by the way,
I-I don't know why we're surprised.
It's like, "Oh, why didn't Trump pull out?"
They guy's got five kids. He was never gonna pull out. Come on.
-(laughter, applause) -Like...
What I will say is shocking, though,
is that Trump went
His instinct was to pull out of Afghanistan.
Then he changed his mind, all right?
The question is,
how do you convince Donald Trump to not do something?
It turns out, by giving him something he wants to do more.
One of the ways McMaster tried to persuade Trump
to recommit to the effort was by convincing him
that Afghanistan was not a hopeless place.
He presented Trump with a black-and-white snapshot
from 1972 of Afghan women in miniskirts
walking through Kabul to show him
that Western norms had existed there before and could return.
(laughter, groaning)
I've got to say, that's-that's a genius move
by the general right there.
I mean, Trump may not care
about bringing democracy to Afghanistan,
but bringing miniskirts-- that's a different story.
"Afghanistan is a lost cause.
We should pull out immediately."
"Sir, with more troops,
we could get these women showing some leg again."
"I want you to put every soldier we have into this country!
"This is too important!
How many troops will it take to get boobs? How many more?"
-(laughter) -"Tell me now.
Tell me now."
So, President Trump is adding
more
And you have to ask yourself
what the end goal of the strategy is.
Because, as much as Trump wants to act
like he's doing something different,
the truth is, he's saying things that sound very familiar.
From now on, victory will have a clear definition.
I owe you a mission that is clearly defined...
We will not dictate to the Afghan people how to live.
We are not in Afghanistan to control that country
or to dictate its future.
We must stop the resurgence of safe havens.
We must deny Al-Qaeda a safe haven.
Afghans will secure and build their own nation.
Afghans will have to take responsibility
for their security.
Our support is not a blank check.
The days of providing a blank check are over.
(like Obama): Uh, bazinga!
(laughter)
(like Trump): Bazinga! I said it first! Bazinga!
Bazinga.