Afghan government, Taliban aren't sure where Trump got the idea a cease-fire is likely

Donald Trump and Ashraf Ghani.
(Image credit: OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images)

President Trump is stirring up some confusion.

Neither the Taliban nor the Afghan government indicated the sides were close to a cease-fire agreement, despite Trump's assertion while visiting U.S. troops in Afghanistan for Thanksgiving on Thursday that the Taliban was ready to strike a deal. "They didn't want to do a cease-fire, but now they do want to a do a cease-fire," he said. "It will probably work out that way."

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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.