House Speaker Paul Ryan started out his CNN town hall Monday by praising President Donald Trump's decision to beef up the number of troops in Afghanistan, Mediaite reported.
"I'm actually pleased with the way he went about making this decision," Ryan said. "It was described to me recently by one of our military planners that the last 16 years our comprehensive Afghanistan strategy was 16 one-year strategies. So, we have had a convoluted strategy with respect to Afghanistan, and I think it's high time we had a more comprehensive strategy."
The president's plan calls for a modest troop increase, an approach opposite of the one he touted in campaign rhetoric because he had determined pulling solders out could create a vacuum terrorists could "instantly fill."
"I concluded that the security threats we face in Afghanistan and the broader region are immense," Trump said.
Ryan said he heard "a new Trump strategy, or a doctrine, so to speak. Principled realism is how I think he described it."
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., also applauded Trump, saying the strategy was "put together the right way."
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.