ARLINGTON, Virginia – President Donald Trump will address the nation from Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall in Arlington, Virginia, about the path forward in Afghanistan and South Asia.
Trump will become the third US president to put his imprint on the 16-year war in Afghanistan.
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The primetime address, the most significant national security speech of Trump's presidency to date, will reflect the outcome of months of internal administration deliberations to decide the scope of the ongoing military, financial and diplomatic commitment to the longest-running war in US history. Trump has previously expressed reservations about the seemingly endless US military commitment in Afghanistan and questioned the objectives of staying there.
The President reached a decision on the future of the US strategy after a final round of deliberations with his national security team at Camp David on Friday.
Trump's decision comes as Taliban militants have been resurgent in recent months, posting a series of recent gains against Afghan government forces, which are backed by a US-led coalition of NATO allies. ISIS, through a regional affiliate known as ISIS-K, has also established a foothold in Afghanistan in recent years, carrying out a series of deadly terrorist attacks and coordinating assaults with the Taliban.
About 8,400 US troops are currently deployed to Afghanistan. The majority -- about 6,900 -- are assigned to the NATO mission to train and advise Afghan security forces alongside approximately 6,000 troops from other NATO countries. The remainder of US forces in Afghanistan carry out counterterrorism missions in the country.
Those numbers could now change. Trump has been presented with a range of options, from a full withdrawal of US troops to the deployment of several thousand more US troops to bolster the training and advisory mission, special operations' counterterrorism missions, or both. US commanders in Afghanistan are seeking a boost in special forces and military advisers, a senior official with US forces in Afghanistan told CNN.
The US officially ended its combat mission in Afghanistan in December 2014 and shifted its mission to focus on counterterrorism operations and training Afghan forces. But President Barack Obama never managed the full complete withdrawal of US forces that he had sought during his time in office.
The Trump administration, though, has been looking beyond troop numbers, mulling a readjustment of the US's objectives -- evaluating everything from its support for a centralized Afghan government to its metrics for success in fighting the Taliban and ISIS-K.
The administration has also been developing a strategy to address the growing Iranian influence in Afghanistan and to crack down on terror networks in neighboring Pakistan.
