Washington, White House. American plans to deploy massive amounts of troops to Afghanistan ran into a lot of media question for White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer and spiraled out of control , once Spicer said the US would “eliminate” all “threats” globally to the superpower.
President Trump aims to “fully eliminate” threats to US and allied interests around the world, the White House said Tuesday.
“We need to fully eliminate any threat around the globe, frankly, not just in Afghanistan, that poses a threat to our people and our allies,” press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters at the White House daily press briefing.
The American commander in Afghanistan, Army Gen. John Nicholson Jr., warned the Senate Armed Services Committee in early February that the war in Afghanistan was in a “stalemate” and that “we have a shortfall of a few thousand” troops.
But as a candidate, Trump promised an “America First” foreign policy focused on destroying the so-called Islamic State while resisting nation-building entanglements. He repeatedly condemned spending on military interventions overseas as wasting dollars that could better be used to rebuild American communities at home.
Questioned about the potential disconnect, Spicer said Trump’s “priorities remain the same. But he’s going to do what he can to make sure that he protects the country and our people.”
Spicer played down speculation that the president could sharply escalate troops numbers above their current level of 8,400. Several news reports have put the potential increase in American troops at 5,000, with more expected from NATO allies. Some Pentagon officials have said up to 25,000 more US troops may be on the way to Afghanistan in the near future.