HYGO News 3 Trump joined that Biden terminated. AP reporter Matt Lee stuns State Dept spokesman Ned Price.
3 Trump joined that Biden terminated. AP reporter Matt Lee stuns State Dept spokesman Ned Price.
On 7/6/2021 during State Department press briefing, spokesperson Ned Price highlighted President Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw troops from Afghanistan and the possibility of continuing negotiations with the Taliban despite their military offensive in taking back control in parts of the country. Associated Press reporter Matt Lee pressed Price about the administration’s excuse that they were beholden to the Trump administration’s agreement with the Taliban as a possible reason for U.S. troop withdrawal.
“This administration inherited plenty from the previous administration that it absolutely reversed. Are you saying that you’re not confident in your negotiating skills that you could have renegotiated with—that you couldn’t have renegotiated a deal with the Taliban and that the—and are you saying that the president, in fact, didn’t want to take troops out, didn’t want to withdraw?” Lee asked.
“Yes, we changed quite a few U.S. policies across a number of fronts, but I think you would be hard-pressed to find an international agreement that the United States signed on to during the last administration that this administration has jettisoned, done away with,” Price responded.
Lee then mentioned 3 international agreements that the Trump administration joined that the Biden administration has terminated. “How about the Geneva protocol on the anti-abortion stuff?” Lee pressed. “How about the agreements with the Northern Triangle, with Mexico and the Northern Triangle? Those are international agreements that you guys jettisoned.”
When Price looked visibly flustered, Lee continued, “I mean, you just challenged me to come up with an international agreement that the previous administration signed that you guys have walked away from, and I just gave you, I think, three.”
Following this exchange, Price conceded saying, “The previous administration had its own policies. This administration has different policies across a number of fronts.”