Trump claims he could win Afghanistan war 'in a week' but doesn't want to wipe country 'off face of earth'

Donald Trump has said he could win the Afghanistan war “in a week” but that he did not want to wipe the country “off the face of the earth”.

The US President said he did not “want to go that route” but touted a secret plan to win the nearly two-decade-long conflict “in literally ten days”.

Mr Trump made the claim as he hosted Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan at the White House, with the US leader saying he hoped Pakistan would use its influence with the Taliban to advance a peace deal and help end the war.

“I have plans on Afghanistan that if I wanted to win that war, Afghanistan would be wiped off the face of the Earth,” Mr Trump said. “It would be gone. It would be over in — literally in ten days. And I don't want to do that. I don't want to go that route.”

Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan in the Oval Office
AP

Mr Khan told Mr Trump that a peace deal with the Taliban was closer than it had ever been.

"We hope that in the coming days we will be able to urge the Taliban to speak to the Afghan government and come to a settlement, a political solution," he said in the Oval Office meeting.

Trump: I have plans on Afghanistan that if I wanted to win that war, Afghanistan would be wiped off the face of the Earth
AP

Mr Trump said there was “tremendous potential between” the US and Pakistan, and predicted that the Islamic Republic would “help us out to extricate ourselves” from Afghanistan.

Pakistan, which is suffering economically, wants to reset relations with the US in hopes of securing more investment, trade and possibly a restoration of American aid that Mr Trump cut.

Relations between the US and Pakistan reached rock bottom under former President Barack Obama when the US carried out the raid on al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden's compound in Pakistan without giving Islamabad notice.

The relationship did not improve when Mr Trump took office.

In November 2018, Mr Trump tweeted: "We no longer pay Pakistan the $Billions because they would take our money and do nothing for us, Bin Laden being a prime example, Afghanistan being another."

That statement sparked a furore in Islamabad.

Khan, the former captain of the Pakistani cricket team who assumed office last fall, fired back.

He tweeted that Pakistan has suffered 75,000 casualties and lost $123 billion in the "US War on Terror," despite the fact that no Pakistanis were involved in the September 11 attacks. He said the US had only provided a "minuscule" $20 billion in aid.

Agencies contributed to this report

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