Trump uses 9/11 anniversary to attack Biden over Taliban takeover of Afghanistan

Trump, at NYPD offices in New York, took the opportunity to slam his successor Joe Biden on the 9/11 anniversary (Picture: Sky News)

Disgraced former president Donald Trump has taken a swipe at his successor Joe Biden over America’s withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Trump chose the 20^th anniversary of 9/11 to speak out about Biden’s handling of the crisis, branding it ‘gross incompetence’.

He described the timing as horrible – but insisted it was right to call out politicians for failing to mention the Taliban takeover.

During a visit to the New York Police Department Offices, he said: ‘It’s a sad day, a very sad day for a lot of reasons.

‘And we just added to that reason last week, because that should never have been allowed to happen.

‘I watched all the speeches and nobody mentions it, what they did, but we’re going to have to live with that for a period of time.’

Trump added that he believed America’s course of action was ‘very disappointing’.

And he suggested the outcome would have been different had he not been ousted from the White House in January following what he maintains was a ‘rigged election’.

Trump did not join fellow past presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama and current leader, Joe Biden, for a ceremony at the 9/11 Memorial in Manhattan on the 20th anniversary of the attacks (Picture: Chip Somodevilla/UPI/REX/Shutter)

The billionaire businessman added: ‘The Taliban was on hold, I dealt with the top guy, Abdul, and there was nothing he was going to be doing with us.

‘We had everyone on hold, the Taliban was on hold, I dealt with the top guy, Abdul, and there was nothing he was going to be doing with us.

‘All of a sudden we have a rigged election and all of a sudden we flee Afghanistan.

‘What timing, what horrible timing, the 20^th anniversary, and I watch the speeches and not one person spoke about the fact three days ago we fled Afghanistan and we left Americans behind and others too.’

A Taliban fighter stands guard near a damaged car after multiple rockets were fired in Kabul on August 30 (Picture: WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP via Getty Images)

Trump added: ‘We could have stayed there for one month or three years, they weren’t going to be able to do anything but they left and when they left there was a vaccum, and then they came in and filled the vacuum.

‘Whoever thought of this, a five-year-old would have said the military goes out last and that’s what they wanted, they couldn’t believe they were leaving.’

‘So it was gross incompetence and I hate to talk about it on this day but people are saying why are they not talking about what the hell we did.’

President Biden has defended his handling of the crisis in Afghanistan (Picture: AP)

Meanwhile George W. Bush, who was just one year into his Presidency when the Twin Towers were targeted, took the opportunity to urge Americans to unite on the anniversary of the attack.

‘To me that’s the central lesson of September 11,’ he said. ‘Unity is our greatest strength.’

Many other public figures chose to pay their respects to the victims and survivors of the terror attack, described as America’s darkest day.

The Queen led tributes to both victims and survivors, while Prince Harry and Meghan Markle changed their Archewell website to honour the 2,977 people who perished.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.