Pompeo defends Trump's Taliban invite while Democrats struggle to comprehend it

Mike Pompeo.
(Image credit: Screenshot/CBS)

The Taliban won't be meeting with President Trump at Camp David, but the fact that it almost happened in the first place has evoked some heavy criticism.

Former Housing Secretary Julián Castro, a Democratic presidential candidate, said he's still looking for confirmation an actual meeting was planned, but if Trump was indeed telling the truth he finds it "bizarre." Castro said he's supportive of a negotiated political settlement in Afghanistan, but "it's very odd to invite a terrorist organization like that to Camp David," adding that it's "not in keeping with the way that the United States negotiates."

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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.