RASC News Agency: Media reports reveal that Donald Trump, the President-elect of the United States, declared during a press conference on Tuesday that the U.S. is “sending billions of dollars to the Taliban,” denouncing the practice as intolerable. Trump emphasized that such financial support “must not happen.” Speaking in Florida, he highlighted U.S. humanitarian aid to Afghanistan over the past three years, a topic that has sparked severe criticism among Republican lawmakers. Tim Burchett, a Republican congressman with close ties to the Afghanistan resistance, issued an open letter to Trump on Monday, calling for the “immediate cessation of U.S. cash aid to the Taliban.” He stressed that the United States must not finance its adversaries under any circumstances.
Trump echoed these concerns, stating: “We’re not talking about millions we’re talking about billions of dollars being sent to Afghanistan, effectively to the Taliban. This is incomprehensible and unacceptable. It must not continue.” Over the past three years, the U.S. has allocated more than $2 billion in aid to relief organizations operating in Afghanistan. According to the U.S. State Department, these funds are intended exclusively for humanitarian and charitable programs, targeting ordinary Afghanistani citizens grappling with famine, hunger, and critical shortages of food.
With less than two weeks until his inauguration, Trump addressed a broad spectrum of domestic and foreign policy issues during the press conference. However, he refrained from providing specific details on his administration’s strategy toward Afghanistan. Instead, he reiterated his sharp critique of the Biden administration’s handling of the U.S. withdrawal from the country. “We aimed to leave Afghanistan with honor and strength not to appear like fools. Thirteen of our brave men and women were killed, and countless others were horrifically injured,” Trump said. He further lambasted the Biden administration for abandoning military equipment valued at billions of dollars in Afghanistan, calling it a failure of monumental proportions.
Trump also suggested that the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan played a direct role in emboldening Russia to invade Ukraine, arguing that America’s global credibility was severely damaged. His statements, along with those of his national security team, indicate that Washington may reassess its approach to humanitarian aid in Afghanistan, particularly given the belief that the Taliban is gaining access to these funds.
