President Joe Biden is scheduled on Tuesday to address the nation on his decision to end the war in Afghanistan, a day after the U.S. completed its withdrawal.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Biden “will lay out his decision to end the war in Afghanistan after 20 years, including the tough decisions he made over the last seven months since he took office to bring the war to a close.” Biden will also thank U.S. military members who helped in an evacuation mission and discuss “how best to keep the American people safe,” she said.
His remarks are scheduled for 2:45 p.m. Eastern.
The last U.S. troops left Afghanistan on Monday, closing a 20-year war that was marked in its final days by a terrorist attack on the Kabul airport that claimed the lives of 13 U.S. troops and scores of Afghans.
Some Republicans have called for the Democratic president to resign or to be impeached after the frantic final U.S. exit from the country. While the GOP has no path to impeach Biden without congressional majorities, the president’s approval rating has fallen amid the withdrawal.
Also read: Why Americans will be paying for the cost of the war in Afghanistan for decades
As MarketWatch has reported, global financial markets have been largely unmoved by developments in Afghanistan. But some analysts believe the fallout could potentially cloud the outlook for Biden’s legislative agenda, which includes major infrastructure and social spending packages.
Read: Investors ignore Afghanistan, but risk levels are on the rise
U.S. stocks
SPX,
-0.16%
on Tuesday were fractionally lower, with investor attention settling on employment data coming at the end of the week as major benchmarks remained on track to close out August near all-time highs.
