Trump announces new peace talks in surprise Thanksgiving visit to Afghanistan

(Image credit: OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images)

President Trump made a surprise visit to Afghanistan on Thursday to spend part of Thanksgiving with U.S. troops, AP reports. During the visit, Trump's first to Afghanistan, he announced that the U.S. and the Taliban have reopened peace talks. He said he believes the Taliban want a truce in America's longest war. "We're meeting with them," Trump said. "And we're saying it has to be a ceasefire."

Trump had cut off talks with the Taliban in September and canceled a secret meeting between Taliban and Afghan leaders after a flurry of violence. During Trump's 3 1/2 hours at Bagram Air Field, Trump also served turkey to U.S. soldiers, who cheered him when he entered the dining hall. About 12,000 American troops remain in Afghanistan.

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Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.