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Trump slams ‘rushed’ Afghanistan withdrawal, blames ‘incompetent’ Biden

Brooke Singman | Fox News — Sat, 11 Sep 2021 03:01:23 +0000

Trump said there has ‘never been a greater embarrassment’ to the US than the Afghanistan withdrawal.

EXCLUSIVE: Former President Trump said there has “never been a greater embarrassment” to the United States than the Biden Administration’s “rushed” withdrawal of military assets from Afghanistan, telling Fox News that the U.S. has “an incompetent person as the leader of our country.”

Trump, in an exclusive interview with Fox News digital, reflected on Sept. 11, 2001, calling it a “terrible day in our history,” but he pointed to a “terrible week in our history recently.”

“To have that embarrassment to take place in Afghanistan with the same people who did the damage 20 years ago—it is the greatest embarrassment in the history of our country,” Trump said.

“There has never been anything like this. It looks like we fled, and it is all because we have an incompetent person as the leader of our country,” Trump told Fox News.

Trump, who brokered a deal with the Taliban as president for a May 2021 troop withdrawal, said this “never would have happened” under his administration.

WHITE HOUSE SAYS IT’S SIMPLY ‘UP TO AMERICANS’ TO CHOOSE TO FLEE AFGHANISTAN, DESPITE MANY HIDING FROM TALIBAN

“I didn’t even stick to it because I wanted to get out by May 1, and when they violated conditions, we bombed and did a lot of things,” Trump said. “They adhered to one condition— don’t kill Americans or soldiers.”

Trump added: “We hadn’t lost a solider or an American in 18 months in Afghanistan. It was going along very well.”

The Biden Administration removed all U.S. military assets from Afghanistan on Aug. 31, after the country fell to the Taliban.

“They never would have come anywhere near us. It wouldn’t have happened, they wouldn’t have taken over anything,” Trump said. “They knew that if they did, they would be bombed into hell.”

He added: “They knew that—and that’s why they never would have come in to fill this vacuum.”

FILE — President Donald Trump gives the thumbs-up as he boards Air Force One. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Trump said that when the Biden Administration began drawing back U.S. forces, “we created this big open wound, a void, and the Taliban just came in and filled it, and within 24 hours, they controlled the whole country.”

“When I heard they were taking the military out, I thought, that’s inconceivable,” Trump said.

When asked whether he had words of comfort for Gold Star and military families and veterans, Trump replied: “It would be easier, and probably more politically correct, for me to just say, ‘hang in there,’ and just, ‘something will happen.’”

“But they should be very angry,” Trump said. “They cannot feel even a little bit good or optimistic, because we have an administration that doesn’t know what they’re doing.”

Trump said that there is “no way this should have ever happened.”

“They should have never taken the military out first—you take the military out last, after all of the people are out,” Trump said, referring to the American citizens and Afghan allies left behind after the U.S. military evacuation mission, which expired on Aug. 31. The Biden Administration has said the mission has transitioned from a military mission to a “diplomatic” one.

“No man, no woman left behind,” Trump said. “But we left, what could be, thousands.”

The State Department is currently working on a diplomatic mission to evacuate the known American citizens in Afghanistan, which they say is a total of approximately 100 individuals, and Afghan allies.

AFGHAN INTERPRETER BEATEN, TORTURED BY TALIBAN IN FRONT OF FAMILY AS HIS SIV APPLICATION LAGS

On Thursday, the White House announced the safe evacuation of Americans from Kabul to Qatar, and said the Taliban was “cooperative” and have been “businesslike and professional” as administration officials work to evacuate Americans. The White House called that dialogue a “positive first step.”

Reacting, Trump said that the Biden Administration “looks like fools,” calling their rhetoric “sad and pathetic.”

“These are the people that knocked down the World Trade Center. These are the people who have treated people so inhumanely, so badly,” Trump said. “I mean, we have been fighting them for 25 years, and to think that they’re now reliable?”

The former president went on to slam the Biden Administration for leaving behind what he estimated was $85 billion worth of military equipment. Trump predicted that the Taliban is sending any damaged U.S. equipment to China and Russia for repair.

“We had tremendous airpower, which they now have, and it’s not even believable,” Trump said, questioning why the Biden Administration left U.S. aircraft in Afghanistan.

Trump went on to tout the military’s success under his administration in bombing and killing Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and in destroying the ISIS caliphate.

“I got rid of 100% of the ISIS caliphate, Soleimani, al Baghdadi,” Trump said. “Everybody gone.”

Asked about his administration’s success in brokering the Abraham Accords, the peace agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates that normalized relations, Trump replied: “We would have had peace in the Middle East.”

“But the U.S. looks like a bunch of fools right now. We look like we surrendered,” he said. “We look like we ran.”

Looking to the future, Trump said that the United States has to “move forward.”

“We have no choice—we have to do what we have to do,” Trump said. “We’re an embarrassed country, and we’ve never had anything like this.”

He added: “We’re not respected anymore….We’re disrespected all over the world.”

“I can’t tell you how serious that is,” Trump said.

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Meanwhile, as for his plans on 9/11, Trump said he would be traveling to Manhattan.

“It is very depressing,” Trump said. “This was supposed to be a day of victory.”

“Now it is a day of embarrassment,” he continued. “How do you have this happen?”

Trump added: “I think Biden rushed it to try to claim victory, and now, he looks like a fool.”

Brooke Singman is a Politics Reporter for Fox News. Follow her on Twitter at @BrookeSingman.

Source: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-slams-rushed-afghanistan-withdrawal-blames-incompetent-biden?test=38861ea43380e1402f1c90f21546ad4b

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California stands to suffer if US-China trade war worsens

AFP via South China Morning Post — Wed, 11 Jul 2018 10:05:34 +0000

California boasts the world’s fifth largest economy, with annual output of $2.7 billion, more than that of Britain.

Churning out everything from cars and computer chips to nuts and wine, California’s mighty economy will suffer big time if the US-China trade war worsens.

Billions of dollars and many jobs are at risk in the richest and most populous US state – a world-class economy and bastion of opposition to US President Donald Trump.

Offshore yuan falls 0.55pc after Trump ups ante in trade war

“If there’s one region in the United States that will be most impacted by the trade war, it’s going to be LA,” said Stephen Cheung, former director of international trade at the Port of Los Angeles and now chairman of an NGO called World Trade Center Los Angeles.

Last year in Los Angeles-area ports, two-way trade with China totalled more than US$170 billion, Cheung said, adding: “China is our number one trading partner.”

The world’s two largest economies have squared off in a tit-for-tat trade war that threatens to disrupt international commerce.

“Our fear is that the cycle will keep growing to the point where it’s going to depress the economy,” said Cheung.

California boasts the world’s fifth largest economy, with annual output of US$2.7 billion, more than that of Britain.

The state of 40 million people is home to the powerful tech companies of Silicon Valley and the Hollywood movie and TV industry, and exports electric cars, engines, auto parts and aluminium, besides being the nation’s bread basket.

How China plans to push back against Trump in ‘economic cold war’

Pistachios, almonds, oranges, walnuts, plums, lemons and strawberries are among the farm products targeted in Chinese tariffs imposed in retaliation for US levies ordered by Trump.

“Although we don’t know the exact ramifications these tariffs will have on our crops, we do understand the loss of the Chinese market will result in other foreign suppliers moving into the marketplace, causing long-term lost sales opportunities for our farmers,” said Sara Neagu-Reed of the California Farm Bureau Federation.

China was the third largest market in 2016 for California farm goods, after Canada and the European Union, with imports to the tune of US$2 billion.

“We as growers are very concerned,” said Holly King, head of the Almond Board of California. The sector exported US$518 million worth of almonds in 2016. Now, the nut has been hit with a 50 per cent tariff in China.

For pistachios – US$530 million in exports that year – the levy is 45 per cent.

Casey Creamer, executive vice-president of the California Citrus Mutual, which represents 2,500 growers, said the organisation’s focus for now is on supporting the US government in the face of Chinese trade practices which “have been very bad for our industry.”

American families set to pay as US targets Chinese consumer goods

Trump, who says he wants to reduce the US trade deficit with China, has accused other countries of taking advantage of the US when it comes to bilateral trade.

Many producers agree that China has engaged in unfair practices but “instead of using trade tariffs as a tactic” the better approach is to negotiate toward an accord that benefits both sides, said Cheung.

Wine was slapped with a 35 per cent tariff in China, which hurts Michael Honig, who owns a winery in Napa Valley north of San Francisco.

“We started exporting to China over 10 years ago and built up a good market,” he told AFP. “And what we’ve seen now is everything just stopped.”

His Asian buyer has put orders on hold to see what happens before resuming purchases. “It’s kind of frustrating,” Honig said.

Trump tariff list targets hi-tech minerals that US needs

Mario Cordero, executive director of the Port of Long Beach, which along with that of Los Angeles moved 7.5 million containers last year, said that for now he is not aware of any stranded shipments but he will have a better idea of the fallout from the tariffs in six months.

The NGO California Budget & Policy Center has warned that there are more than 285,000 jobs in California at stake in industries affected by the trade war.

Cheung said prices at the consumer level should start going up in a matter of weeks, making importers more wary of buying products.

What’s more, the war could scare away Chinese investment in California.

“The economy has already been impacted,” Cheung said, and even if the war subsides “it’s going to take a while to get back to operating normally”.

Source: https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2154880/california-stands-suffer-if-us-china-trade-war-worsens

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The post California stands to suffer if US-China trade war worsens first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.