Five years ago, we watched with horror the shameful events at Abbey Gate, where at the Kabul Airport in Afghanistan, a suicide bomb attack killed 181 innocent victims (the bomber himself was, of course, killed, but he doesn't count) and injured over 150 more. Among the dead were 13 American service members and 168 innocent Afghan civilians. The withdrawal from Afghanistan in general and this attack in particular have, ever since, been held up as a symbol of the ineptness of the Biden administration.
On Wednesday, President Trump took to his Truth Social account to comment again on this infamous event.
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) August 26, 2026
The president writes:
Today, we honor the 13 brave American HEROES who were tragically killed five years ago by evil Jihadi terrorists in Kabul, Afghanistan. This catastrophe was a result of Sleepy Joe Biden’s totally botched Withdrawal from the Country, which left our wonderful Servicemen and women defenseless, and allowed the Taliban to free thousands of bloodthirsty terrorists and criminals held at Bagram Prison. This was one of the greatest atrocities in the History of our Nation, and we can never forget that it was the result of the sheer incompetence of Joe Biden and the Democrats who were in charge.
During my 2024 Campaign, I met with the Abbey Gate Gold Star Families, wonderful people and Great Patriots, who were totally ignored and disrespected by the Democrat Party. I promised them we would deliver Justice when I returned to the White House — and we have! We quickly apprehended the evil mastermind responsible for the deaths of our Service members, and it has been one of my Greatest Honors as Commander in Chief. May God Bless America, and may God Bless the Abbey Gate Gold Star Families. You will NEVER be forgotten! President DONALD J. TRUMP
To describe this withdrawal as botched is to do a great disservice to botched military operations throughout history. The first mistake was the abandoning of the secure Bagram Air Base in eastern Afghanistan, which was a much more secure airhead, as opposed to Kabul's Hamid Karzai International Airport, which quite literally has a city wrapped around it. Not only did that complicate the withdrawal of forces, it directly contributed to the chaos accompanying that withdrawal, a chaos that enabled the suicide bomber to approach. There were reasons given for this; most of the Americans in country were in or near Kabul, while Bagram had only a small force and was some 35-40 miles distant; not an insurmountable distance, though, for tactical vehicles in convoy. Bagram could have been augmented and used as the primary airhead.
American forces showed great resolve in the moments following the bombing, including several Marines repeatedly rushing back into the smoke and flames to rescue their wounded as well as injured Afghan civilians. It was in those closing days of the unfortunate Biden presidency that the incompetence of that administration became horribly clear.
That is, of course, aside from the millions of dollars' worth of operational vehicles and weapons we left for the resurgent Taliban.
That day lives in our memory as a shining example of what not to do in any military operation. President Trump is absolutely correct in calling out this disaster and laying it at the feet of Joe Biden.