Donald Trump calls off secret peace summit with Taliban and Afghan president at Camp David
- The abrupt disclosure appeared to deal a significant blow to the ongoing peace talks between the United States and the Taliban
- Taliban on Sunday responded by saying the decision to cancel peace talks with its leadership would lead to the further loss of American lives and assets
US President Donald Trump said he had called off a secret summit with the Taliban and Afghanistan’s leader, abruptly slamming the door on a year of diplomacy to end America’s longest war.
In a weekend bombshell, Trump said that he had planned previously unknown talks with the two sides Sunday in Camp David, the presidential retreat in Maryland, but that the Taliban’s persistent, grisly campaign of violence made them untrustworthy partners.
“Unbeknownst to almost everyone, the major Taliban leaders and, separately, the President of Afghanistan, were going to secretly meet with me at Camp David on Sunday,” Trump said in a tweet.
“Unfortunately, in order to build false leverage, they admitted to an attack in Kabul that killed one of our great great soldiers, and 11 other people. I immediately cancelled the meeting and called off peace negotiations.”
“What kind of people would kill so many in order to seemingly strengthen their bargaining position? They didn’t, they only made it worse!”