Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) strongly backed President Donald Trump’s decision earlier this week to pull U.S. troops out of Syria and Afghanistan, telling CNN’s Jake Tapper on Sunday morning’s “State of the Union” that American policing of Muslim lands “engenders more terrorism.”
“I’m very proud of the president. This is exactly what he promised, and I think the people agree with him,” said Paul. “I think the people actually are with [President Trump]. Washington’s against him, but this wouldn’t be the first time Washington doesn’t represent the people very well.”
“Right now, we’re spending $50 billion a year in Afghanistan,” added Sen. Paul on Sunday morning. “We could easily find $5 billion for a wall if we weren’t spending so much money building and rebuilding Afghanistan.” Paul serves on the Senate’s Committee on Foreign Relations.
The senator was referring to the major budget disagreement this week that resulted in a partial government shutdown beginning Friday night over funding for the border security wall. Paul added that though he is “not a fan” of intentionally shutting down the government, he’s also opposed to “spending so much money that we’re bankrupting the country.”
“I think people believe we’ve been at war too long, in too many places, and that we do need to turn attention to problems we have at home here,” said Paul.- READ MORE