Trump Says Taliban Knew He Would 'Rain Down Fire and Fury' if US Personnel or Interests Were Harmed

The former president has harshly criticised the way the Joe Biden administration is handling the troop withdrawal from Afghanistan and the mayhem it has caused in the war-ravaged country, which fell to the Taliban last week, as "one of the greatest embarrassments" and the "greatest foreign policy humiliation" in the history of the US.

Donald Trump has said the Taliban* was aware he would "rain down fire and fury" if any US personnel or interests were harmed, and suggested "this Afghanistan disaster" wouldn't have happened under his presidency.

"This is a catastrophe of historic proportions", the 45th president of the United States warned in a Telegram post.

He insisted again that the current occupant of the Oval Office, Joe Biden, must apologise to America "for allowing the military to leave before civilians and for allowing $85 billion dollars worth of sophisticated military equipment to be handed over to the Taliban (and Russia and China so they can copy it) rather than bringing it back to the United States!"

The latest swipe at his predecessor and the chaos in Afghanistan came shortly after Trump held a Save America rally in Cullman, Alabama, where he described the hasty troop withdrawal as a "total surrender" and "gross incompetence by the nation's leader".

"This will go down as one of the great military defeats of all time", Trump said, pointing out that Biden was vacationing as Afghanistan "was going to hell".

Former U.S. President Donald Trump tosses a hat prior to him speaking during a rally in Cullman, Alabama, U.S., August 21, 2021.

© REUTERS / MARVIN GENTRY

Despite the latest US intelligence assessment suggesting that the Taliban could isolate Kabul in 30 days and capture it in three months, the Afghan capital fell to the terrorist group last Sunday as the US-trained Afghan Army showed no resistance and western-backed President Ashraf Ghani fled for the UAE.

That dramatic Sunday Biden was on vacation at Camp David and went completely off the radar as Afghans were forced into hiding, US diplomatic personnel was evacuated by choppers in a scene eerily reminiscent of the American exit from Saigon in 1975, while thousands of others flocked to Kabul's airport and frantically tried to board American aircraft.

It wasn't until Monday evening that Joe Biden finally decided to address the nation, defending his decision to pull out the troops the way he did.

Trump previously offered his strategy of how the troop withdrawal and evacuation should've been handled as he roasted Biden and "woke generals":

"First you bring out all of the American citizens. Then you bring out ALL equipment. Then you bomb the bases into smithereens—And then you bring out the military. You don't do it in reverse order like Biden and our woke generals did. No chaos, no death—they wouldn't even know we left!"

Trump, who negotiated the US withdrawal from Afghanistan with the Taliban after nearly 20 years of engagement, had signed a peace deal with the insurgent group in Doha, Qatar, in February 2020. At the time, the then-president suggested that America "will be successful in the end", albeit underscored that the military wouldn't hesitate to take measures if "bad things happen".

The Doha agreement was reached in order to achieve key four goals: prevent the use of Afghan soil by any group or individual against the security of the United States and its allies; provide a timeline for the withdrawal of all foreign forces from Afghanistan; kick-start intra-Afghan negotiations; and reach a permanent and comprehensive ceasefire.

Under the deal, American troops were set to leave by 1 May 2021. However, in April, Joe Biden extended the deadline to 11 September - the 20-year anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks that triggered the US invasion of Afghanistan. He later moved it up to 31 August.

After Biden's April speech, the Taliban ramped up its offensive across Afghanistan, taking control of major cities and key border crossings, eventually capturing Kabul by 15 August. Shortly thereafter, the insurgent group declared that the 20-year war was "over". It is expected that a new Afghan government will be formed within several weeks.

*The Taliban is a terrorist group banned in Russia and many other countries.