Russia and Putin · First term · № 49
Said the Soviet Union was 'right to be there' when it invaded Afghanistan in 1979
“The reason Russia was in Afghanistan was because terrorists were going into Russia. They were right to be there.”
- Said
- , Cabinet meeting, White House
- Subject
- Soviet war in Afghanistan
- Type
- Praise and deference
- Topic
- Foreign policy
- Era
- First term
What happened
At a Cabinet meeting on January 2, 2019, Trump said the Soviet Union went into Afghanistan in 1979 because terrorists were entering its territory, and that the war bankrupted it. An Associated Press fact check said the assertion was out of step with history: the Soviets were trying to bolster communists in Afghanistan, the United States boycotted the 1980 Moscow Olympics in protest, and the U.N. General Assembly voted 104-18 to deplore the intervention. The AP noted that Russian lawmakers were then weighing a resolution stating that the invasion had followed the norms of international law. The Wall Street Journal editorial board wrote that it could not recall "a more absurd misstatement of history by an American President." PolitiFact rated the claim Pants on Fire.