Who is Abdul, the Taliban 'leader' Trump referred to during the debate?

Viewers puzzled after former president appears to forget who leads the Taliban

Not Abdul ... Afghan Taliban leader Haibatullah Akhundzada in 2016. AFP

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Donald Trump drew perplexed looks from Vice President Kamala Harris during Tuesday's debate, when he repeatedly spoke about a certain “Abdul”, whom he described as the leader of the Taliban.

It was the latest instance in which the former president referred to Abdul, bringing up the name repeatedly at rallies as he has sought to blame the Biden administration for the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021 that was set in motion by a deal Mr Trump cut with the Taliban.

“Abdul is the head of the Taliban. He is still the head of the Taliban. And I told Abdul don't do it any more, you do it any more you're going to have problems,” Mr Trump said in the debate as he sought to explain why the Taliban agreed to stop attacking US troops as a result of the withdrawal deal.

“And he said, 'Why do you send me a picture of my house?' I said, 'You're going to have to figure that out, Abdul.' And for 18 months we had nobody killed.”

The remarks were a bit of a head-scratcher for many viewers, particularly as the leader of the Taliban is not called Abdul.

It appears Mr Trump was referring to Abdul Ghani Baradar, who was the Taliban's senior negotiator during withdrawal talks in 2019 and 2020. Mr Baradar is now Afghanistan's acting first deputy prime minister but has never been considered the leader of the Taliban.

At a rally in August, Mr Trump referred to “Abdul” as a “strong man, smart man”.

The Taliban's head is Hibatullah Akhundzada, who has led the group since 2016 and is now the leader of Afghanistan's government, which is not internationally recognised.

Pakistan imprisoned Mr Baradar in 2010 but the US asked Islamabad to release him in 2018 in the run-up to the withdrawal deal.

Some commentators on social media speculated that Mr Trump uses the name Abdul because he confuses Muslim names or cannot remember Mr Baradar's full name.