Despite countless screw-ups and crises throughout his term, President Joe Biden believes he's done a good time running the country.
One of the most notable controversies under Biden was his botched withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.
However, according to a new book, the president believes his administration did nothing wrong during the chaotic time in which 13 American military personnel died from a terrorist attack in Kabul.
Politico's national security reporter Alexander Ward detailed in his upcoming book, The Internationalists: The Fight to Restore Foreign Policy After Trump, that Biden told his administration that there was no real possibility of a "shake-up."
"Biden told his top aides, [National Security Adviser Jake] Sullivan included, that he stood by them and they had done their best during a tough situation," Ward wrote.
The president has faced mounting pressure to resign from lawmakers and Gold Star families following the botched operation, which left thousands of American citizens and Afghan allies stranded in Afghanistan. During the poorly executed withdrawal, Biden also failed to secure more than $7 billion worth of weapons, aircraft, guns, vehicles, ammunition, and specialized equipment.
"After the withdrawal, "no one offered to resign, in large part because the president didn't believe anyone had made a mistake. Ending the war was always going to be messy," Ward said.
Per excerpts from Ward's book obtained by Axios, top White House aides watched Biden make promises they knew he would not be able to keep.
"There's no one here who thinks we can meet that promise," a senior White House official told Ward after Biden vowed that U.S. troops would stay in Afghanistan until every U.S. citizen was evacuated from the country.
After receiving significant backlash, Biden blamed former President Trump for the botched withdrawal, claiming it was "severely constrained by conditions created by his predecessor."
In 2023, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told the press that Biden was "proud" of how he conducted the withdrawal despite his incompetent surrender in Afghanistan.
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