One official told NBC that Trump‘s military advisers entered the meeting hoping he would agree to a strategy for the US‘s nearly 16-year-old war. But Trump‘s thinking appeared to have been influenced by another meeting he had with veterans from the war.

„We‘ve been there for now close to 17 years, and I want to find out why we’ve been there for 17 years, how it’s going, and what we should do in terms of additional ideas,” Trump said prior to the meeting with veterans. „I‘ve heard plenty of ideas from a lot of people, but I want to hear it from the people on the ground.“