White House Says It Has Not Validated Taliban Government

The United States has not conveyed that it will validate the Taliban government in Afghanistan, the White House said on Wednesday.

"This is a caretaker Cabinet," White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters. "No one in this administration, not the president nor anyone on the national security team, would suggest that the Taliban are respected and valued members of the global community.

"They have not earned that in any way, and we've never assessed that."