Wall Street Journal editorial board tears into Trump for his 'absurd misstatement of history'

Donald Trump
(Image credit: Nicholas Kamm/ Getty Images)

President Trump's recent comments on Afghanistan have earned him a scathing rebuke from The Wall Street Journal's editorial board.

Trump on Wednesday suggested during a cabinet meeting that the Soviet Union was "right" to invade Afghanistan in 1979 because "terrorists were going into Russia," a view of history disputed by his own State Department.

The Wall Street Journal editorial board on Friday tore into these comments, calling them "reprehensible" and "utterly false" while pointing out that the Soviet Union, in fact, invaded Afghanistan "to prop up a fellow communist government." The editorial board, which often leans conservative, says that they "cannot recall a more absurd misstatement of history by an American President."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

The Journal also criticizes Trump for the way he dismissively talked about other countries' contributions to the war in Afghanistan. Trump's "mockery," the editorial board says, was "a slander against every ally that has supported the U.S. effort in Afghanistan with troops who fought and often died." Read the full editorial at The Wall Street Journal.

Explore More
Brendan Morrow

Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.