KABUL—When Donald Trump was elected in 2016, he was an unknown entity in Afghanistan, a reality TV show host who’d spent years belittling the American incursion in the country at a time when the government in Kabul was hoping for a continued U.S. troop presence to check the rise of the Taliban and other militant groups.
Four years later, as the United States faces one of the most momentous elections in its history, the situation couldn’t be more different. In February, Washington signed a peace deal with the Taliban as part of Trump’s plan to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan after almost 20 years. Now, Kabul is hoping that whoever wins the election will stay that course—withdrawing U.S. troops, not leaving them in Afghanistan forever.
