Biden says ‘tough’ to meet May 1 Afghanistan withdrawal deadline

President disparages agreement struck by former President Trump with Taliban as ‘not very solidly negotiated’.

President Joe Biden said in a television interview it will be “tough” for the United States to withdraw forces from Afghanistan in six weeks under an agreement negotiated by his predecessor with the Taliban. “I’m in the process of making that decision now as to when they’ll leave,” Biden told ABC News in an interview aired on Wednesday. A May 1 deadline to end the US’s longest war was set under an agreement reached by former President Donald Trump and the Taliban, without the buy-in of the Afghan government in February 2020. Biden criticised Trump’s deal with the Taliban as “not very solidly negotiated”.