U.S. President Donald Trump has said that military equipment left behind in Afghanistan after the 2021 withdrawal of American forces could potentially be brought back to the United States.
Trump made the remarks on Wednesday, June 17, while speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit.
Criticizing the way the withdrawal was handled by the administration of Joe Biden, Trump said Washington could have removed all of its military equipment from Afghanistan but instead left it behind.
“We may take all that equipment back,” Trump said. He added that the issue is now largely symbolic because much of the equipment is old, but suggested that the United States could still seek to recover it.
Trump also stated that if he had overseen the withdrawal from Afghanistan, it would have been carried out “with dignity and pride” and would have included the complete removal of military assets.
According to estimates from the United States Department of Defense, military equipment worth more than $7 billion remained in Afghanistan after the U.S. withdrawal in August 2021. Much of that equipment came under Taliban control following the collapse of the former Afghan government.
The Biden administration previously argued that the equipment had been provided to the security forces of the former Afghan government and fell into Taliban hands after the government’s collapse.
