President Donald Trump on Saturday said he canceled secret meetings with Taliban leaders and Afghan president Ashraf Ghani set to take place Sunday at Camp David and called off ongoing peace negotiations after the Taliban admitted responsibility for a recent attack in which a U.S. soldier died.
"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.
They were coming to the United States tonight," Trump tweeted."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?"
Trump continued: "They didn’t, they only made it worse! If they cannot agree to a ceasefire during these very important peace talks, and would even kill 12 innocent people, then they probably don’t have the power to negotiate a meaningful agreement anyway. How many more decades are they willing to fight?"
The details of Trump's tweets could not be immediately confirmed.
Article originally published on POLITICO Magazine