Biden to defend Afghanistan troop withdrawal while leaving some Americans behind

President Joe Biden will speak on Tuesday, his self-imposed deadline to withdraw US military ground troops from Afghanistan, a day after forces retreated after 20 years.

President Joe Biden is set to address the nation Tuesday, defending his self-imposed deadline to withdraw the U.S. military from Afghanistan -- a day after the last troops left the country, bringing America's longest war to a close -- but only after a chaotic and deadly exit. Biden is scheduled to deliver remarks in the State Dining Room of the White House at 2:45 p.m. -- nearly 24 hours after the last military plane cleared airspace above Afghanistan but without more than 100 Americans on board who still wanted to get out of the country. It was not Biden, who has long opposed the war, and who carries a card in his pocket with the number of casualties from Afghanistan and Iraq, to mark the 20-year conclusion of the war on Monday but Pentagon and State officials. Biden did release a written statement thanking commanders and service members for completing the withdrawal on schedule "with no further loss of American lives," praising the evacuation effort as "the largest airlift in US history," and teasing his defense not to stay beyond Aug. 31.