Former President Donald Trump secretly signed a memo just days after his election defeat that would have withdrawn all remaining US troops out of Afghanistan just five days before he left office, according to Bob Woodward's new book, Peril.
The memo, which according to the book got withdrawn after top military and national security officials who were left out of its crafting, intervened with Trump, came months before the Biden administration would oversee a sudden withdrawal - which Trump would slam as chaotic and disorganized.
The Nov. 11th memo, titled 'Memorandum for the Acting Secretary of Defense: Withdrawal from Somalia and Afghanistan,' stunned chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, according to Peril, which Woodward coauthored with journalist Robert Costa.
The new acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller and his chief of staff Kash Patel were also caught off guard.
President Donald Trump signed a secret memo calling for the withdrawal of all US troops from Afghanistan by January 15, 2021 - just five days before he left office, but top security aides scrambled to nullify it, according to the new Bob Woodward book
The memo directed the new acting Pentagon chief to withdraw all troops from the country 'no later than 15 January 2021.'
The book quotes Milley as telling Miller and Patel: 'This is really f***ed up and I'm going to see the President. I'm heading over. You guys can come or not,' before heading over to the White House.
He then showed it to Trump national security advisor Robert O'Brien, who also had not seen it.
When O'Brien went to the former president, Trump told him he had signed the memo, according to the book.
O'Brien then told Trump he had to meet with this top security team.
The new acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller was caught off guard by the order when they learned about it
According to the book, National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien went to former President Trump to get the memo rescinded
Trump did not complete a troop drawdown by the end of his presidency, and the Biden administration rushed to get out troops and equipment after the government in Kabul fell
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army General Mark Milley went to the White House to try to pull back the memo, according to Woodward's account
