Summary

Chapter Nineteen: Trump’s Turn details the third presidential administration to deal with the war in Afghanistan. The chapter begins, in familiar fashion, by setting the scene of a presidential speech to the military. President Trump is depicted addressing Conmy Hall in Fort Myer, Virginia making promises reminiscent of his predecessors to the effect that the war is winnable but that the commitment of troops is not open-ended. Prior to assuming the Presidency, Whitlock notes, Trump called out the US military debacle in Afghanistan and urged the United States to withdraw from the occupation of that country. Whitlock suggests that Secretary of Defense James Mattis and General Joseph Dunforth undermined Trump’s newfound focus on winning the war in quick order by offering glum prognoses in public. Whitlock goes on to recount leaked details of the unconventional demeanor of Trump when...