The National Security Council on Thursday released a 12-page summary of the administration’s review of the 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan, saying the government now prioritized earlier evacuations and highlighting Trump administration actions that purportedly contributed to the withdrawal’s problems. 

Evacuating Earlier: The summary does not directly state that the U.S. should have started evacuations sooner. However, it does say the government now prioritizes earlier evacuations “when faced with a degrading security situation,” citing Ethiopia in late 2021 and Ukraine in early 2022 as examples. 

Blaming Trump: The summary said President Joe Biden’s “choices for how to execute a withdrawal from Afghanistan were severely constrained by conditions created by his predecessor,” adding that despite a series of troop withdrawals, the prior administration “provided no plans for how to conduct the final withdrawal or to evacuate Americans and Afghan allies.” It also said former President Donald Trump “emboldened the Taliban by publicly considering inviting them to Camp David on the anniversary of 9/11” and “pressured the Afghan government to release 5,000 Taliban fighters from prison, including senior war commanders,” as part of a deal with the Taliban.

How the Media Covered It: Headlines across the spectrum often framed the report as “blaming Trump” or “admitting” the evacuation could have happened sooner. While some coverage from the left described the withdrawal as “chaotic,” some coverage from the right implied blame by saying Biden “fumbled” it.