Observers question the timing of Trump's now-canceled Taliban talks

Donald Trump.
(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

In a series of tweets Saturday, President Trump said he canceled secret meetings with Taliban leaders and, separately, Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani that would have taken place at Camp David. Trump said they were scheduled for Sunday, although a senior administration official said the talks would have been held Monday, The New York Times reports.

The president called the whole thing off, however, after the Taliban claimed responsibility for a recent attack in Afghanistan that left a U.S. soldier dead. "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," Trump wrote.

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Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.