--- title: Daily Show Slams Donald Trump Afghanistan War Strategy description: Trevor Noah critiques Donald Trump's ambiguous strategy for the war in Afghanistan and highlights parallels between his speech and Obama's. canonical: https://time.com/4912246/trevor-noah-donald-trump-afghanistan-war-strategy/ author: Cady Lang article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-08-23T15:12:10.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-08T09:30:42.909Z og:title: Trevor Noah Slams Donald Trump's Afghanistan War Strategy og:description: "Trump is a problem solver the same way Godzilla is a city planner" og:url: https://time.com/4912246/trevor-noah-donald-trump-afghanistan-war-strategy/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0d11ac02a6046b67/6988dabf22fb857dfbe2282c/trevor-noah-donald-trump-afghanistan-war-strategy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2000 og:image:height: 1125 og:image:alt: Just For Laughs Comedy Festival 2017 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trevor Noah Slams Donald Trump's Afghanistan War Strategy twitter:description: "Trump is a problem solver the same way Godzilla is a city planner" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0d11ac02a6046b67/6988dabf22fb857dfbe2282c/trevor-noah-donald-trump-afghanistan-war-strategy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Trevor Noah Says Donald Trump's Afghanistan War Strategy is Like His Position on Nazis: 'Unclear.' > Sponsored content. 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It curates the day's top headlines with TIME's reporting and analysis across politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. It is free to join at time.com/newsletters. #### How do I sign up for The Brief? The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=6985e191-a57c-4222-949a-9cbb9fc8c443&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: President Trump Says U.S. Can't Afford a Quick Withdrawal From Afghanistan [Watch (HLS stream): President Trump Says U.S. Can't Afford a Quick Withdrawal From Afghanistan](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/P45VSRtK.m3u8) (1:17)  _Published 2017-08-22. President Donald Trump declared Monday night the U.S. must continue fighting in Afghanistan to avoid the "predictable and unacceptable" results of a rapid withdrawal from the country where the U.S. has been at war for 16 years._  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Aug 23, 2017 3:12 PM UTC  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Aug 23, 2017 3:12 PM UTC [Trevor Noah](http://time.com/collection-post/4685792/trevor-noah-next-generation-leaders/) had some salient opinions about President Donald Trump’s speech on Monday, especially when it came to [the President’s strategy for the war in Afghanistan](http://time.com/4910380/donald-trump-afghanistan-reversal/). _The Daily Show_ host used Tuesday night segment to pint out he felt Trump’s inexperience was slightly discomforting. “I’m sorry, look, I know that he’s been president for seven months, but seeing Donald Trump making military decisions is still weird for me,” Noah said. “I mean, he must be the first human being in history who gets to command an army after starring in a Pizza Hut commercial.” Noah also seemed troubled by Trump’s plans for the Middle East. “Trump’s actual strategy is like his position on Nazis,” he said, drawing a parallel to [the president’s controversial comments following violent white nationalist protests and counter-protests in Charlottesville, VA](http://time.com/4902502/donald-trump-charlottesville-press-conference/). “It’s unclear.” He also riffed on the president’s assertion that he was a “problem solver” by drawing a cogent pop culture comparison. “Yeah, Trump is a problem solver the same way Godzilla is a city planner,” Noah joked. Noah closed his segment by pointing out that Trump may have taken a page out of Melania’s book when it came to taking inspiration for speeches from the Obamas, going so far as to show side-by-side comparisons of the two and remarking that it was like the President was “slapping his name on someone else’s project and doesn’t have any fresh thinking of this own.” Watch the full clip below. ## Transcript 911 the worst terrorist attack in our history, was planned and directed from Afghanistan because that country was ruled by a government that gave comfort and shelter to terrorists. A hasty withdrawal would create a vacuum that terrorists Including ISIS and Al- Qaeda would instantly fill just as happened before September 11th. The consequences of a rapid exit are both predictable and unacceptable. The vacuum we created by leaving too soon gave Safe Haven for [ UNKNOWN ] to spread To grow, recruit and launch attacks. We cannot repeat in Afghanistan the mistake our leaders made in Iraq. Afghans will secure and build their own nation and define their own future. We want them to succeed But we will no longer use American military might to construct democracies in far away lands or try to rebuild other countries in our own image. 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