Trump Says He Could Have Won Vietnam in a Week
At a Dubuque, Iowa, rally, the president also claimed he could have solved the Afghanistan war in the same time frame.
Updated on Nov. 2, 2026 in Military
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Speaking at a rally in Dubuque, Iowa, on Sunday in support of Rep. Ashley Hinson's Senate campaign against Democratic challenger Josh Turek, Trump said he could have won the Vietnam War in a week. He said the U.S. could have done so by dropping Agent Orange instead of going after Ho Chi Minh and other cities, and he also claimed he could have solved the war in Afghanistan in a week.
Why it matters
The remarks revisit one of the longest U.S. military conflicts and the Afghanistan war, which his first-term administration ended through a deal with the Taliban that excluded the Afghan government. Commentators across the political spectrum, including Gregory Brew of the Eurasia Group, Jonah Goldberg of The Dispatch, and Alex Ward of The Wall Street Journal, have weighed in on the claims.
The figure at issue is the president's claimed one-week timeline for ending both the Vietnam and Afghanistan wars, made in remarks rather than in any official filing. The extraction does not include a measured comparator, and it does not say how the claims would have been carried out beyond the Agent Orange remark.
The players
Donald Trump
The current President of the United States, whose first-term administration negotiated the 2020 deal with the Taliban that excluded the Afghan government.
Ashley Hinson
A Republican U.S. representative from Iowa who is running for the Senate against Democratic challenger Josh Turek.
Gregory Brew
An Iranian oil analyst at the Eurasia Group who commented on the claims.
Jonah Goldberg
Editor-in-chief of The Dispatch, a conservative-leaning commentary outlet, who weighed in on the remarks.
Alex Ward
A national security reporter for The Wall Street Journal who covered the remarks.
The details
Trump made the remarks Sunday at a Dubuque rally backing Ashley Hinson's Senate bid against Josh Turek. He said the U.S. could have won Vietnam by dropping Agent Orange rather than targeting Ho Chi Minh and other cities, and he claimed the Afghanistan war could have been solved in a week.
Timeline
Sunday: Trump speaks at the Dubuque, Iowa, rally.
November 2, 2026: Election date referenced by the Hinson-Turek Senate contest.
Political Context
The Afghanistan claim returns to the 2020 U.S.-Taliban Doha Agreement, negotiated during Trump's first term, which excluded the Afghan government from talks. Critics of that deal have argued it left the Afghan government without a seat at the table, a point that this week's remarks do not address.
The remarks are campaign rhetoric and do not change any policy or military posture. Voters in Iowa's Senate race can weigh the claims alongside the candidates' broader positions on foreign policy ahead of the November 2, 2026 election.
The takeaway
Claims about quickly ending long wars are easier to make at a rally than to test against the military and diplomatic realities of those conflicts. Readers can compare such statements with the documented record of each war.
Further reading
Explore more on Military coverage for context on the Vietnam and Afghanistan conflicts.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Raw Story.
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