Lisa Curtis, a former senior National Security Council official who sat alongside Afghanistan envoy Zalmay Khalilzad during the negotiations with the Taliban, told AP: “The Doha agreement was a very weak agreement, and the U.S. should have gained more concessions from the Taliban.”

Former Defense Secretary Mark Esper, who was fired by Trump in November 2020, said he believed at the time the agreement was signed that it should have been “conditions-based,” which is in part why he later objected to Trump’s call for a Christmas homecoming for U.S. troops.

Esper told CNN that although Biden is responsible for the outcome in Afghanistan, Trump “undermined” the agreement and weakened U.S. leverage in negotiations by impatiently calling for troop reductions in the country.

John Bolton and H.R. McMaster, two former Trump national security advisers known for their hawkish views, have lambasted both Trump and Biden for the withdrawal — though both have long been critical of the Taliban agreement.