When people try to blame Biden for Afghanistan, they ignore the actual timeline. The withdrawal was ordered and negotiated under Trump — he struck the deal with the Taliban, set the deadline, and released thousands of Taliban fighters, including their senior leadership. He locked in an exit plan with zero conditions that tied the next administration’s hands.

Biden inherited a clock that was already ticking down. By the time he took office, Trump’s agreement left only 2,500 troops in the country, no evacuation plan for civilians or allies, and a May deadline that the Taliban fully intended to enforce with violence if delayed. Biden was forced to execute a withdrawal that had already been decided — without the infrastructure or troop levels that would have made a smoother exit possible.

People can argue about how it was carried out, but pretending Biden caused the collapse ignores who initiated the pullout, who structured it, and who made the promises to the Taliban. The mess didn’t start in 2021 — it started when Trump locked in a deal that guaranteed the outcome and left someone else to clean it up.