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US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Sunday defended President Trump's surprising decision to cancel a secret meeting with Taliban leaders at Camp David.
Pompeo explained to Jake Tapper, CNN's host, State of the Union the cancellation comes after the Taliban claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing in Kabul, Afghanistan, which killed a dozen people, including an American soldier, earlier this week.
"When the Taliban tried to get a bargaining edge by conducting terrorist attacks inside the country, President Trump had made the right decision to go in," he said. Pompeo. "It made no sense for the Taliban to be rewarded for this kind of bad behavior."
Tapper then noted that the Taliban had been carrying out frequent suicide attacks in Afghanistan since the US invasion of the country shortly after the September 11 attacks.
"What distinguishes the 16th American military's murder this year from the previous 15?" Tapper asked.
Pompeo noted that the United States had not "remained motionless" while US troops had died, claiming that more than 1,000 Taliban militants had been killed in the past 10 days.
"The American people should know that we will defend American national interests," said Pompeo. "We will be rigorous and make sure to put pressure on all powers, all risks."
Tapper said in response that a Democratic president had invited Taliban leaders to visit US soil in the week of 9/11, Pompeo would probably have been troubled.
"I can not help but think that if a Democratic president had asked the Taliban to come to Camp David to negotiate a peace process that had not yet been concluded, you, as a member of Congress As a soldier, as a veteran, as a West Point graduate, you'd be rather upset, "said Tapper.
Pompeo reaffirmed his confidence in Trump's willingness to negotiate peace talks with the Taliban and said he "fully supported this effort".
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