Trump says he had a 'very good talk' with Taliban leader


President Trump spoke with one of the co-founders of the Taliban on Tuesday, just days after the United States signed an agreement with the militant organization calling for the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan.
Trump is believed to be the first U.S. president to ever directly talk with a Taliban leader, The Associated Press reports. The Taliban's spokesman tweeted that Trump had a 35-minute conversation with Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, one of the Taliban's co-founders. Trump said they had "a very good talk," adding, "the relationship is very good that I have with the mullah. We had a good long conversation today and, you know, they want to cease the violence."
On Saturday, the U.S. and Taliban signed an agreement outlining commitments the Taliban must meet in order for the U.S. to withdraw 13,000 troops from Afghanistan within 14 months, including cutting ties with terrorist groups like Al Qaeda.
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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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