Trump lauds US military for firing ‘mother of all bombs’ in Afghanistan

President Donald Trump has praised America’s “incredible military” for dropping the largest non-nuclear bomb in the US arsenal on an area of eastern Afghanistan.

“We have [an] incredible military. We are very proud of them and this was another very, very successful mission,” Trump told reporters after meeting with first responders at the White House on Thursday.

When asked if he personally ordered the use of the powerful bomb on a tunnel complex allegedly used by Daesh (ISIL), Trump said, “Everybody knows exactly what happened and what I do is I authorize my military.”

"We have the greatest military in the world and they've done their job as usual. So, we have given them total authorization. And that’s what they’re doing," he added.

The Republican president also grabbed the opportunity to criticize his Democratic predecessor Barack Obama’s policy on Daesh in Afghanistan.

“If you look at what’s happened over the last eight weeks and compare that to what’s really happened over the last eight years, you’ll see there is a tremendous difference,” he claimed.

Earlier on Thursday, a GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb (MOAB), also known as the "mother of all bombs," was dropped on tunnels in Nangarhar province by an MC-130 aircraft, operated by US Air Force Special Operations Command, according to the Pentagon.

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• US drops ‘mother of all bombs’ in Afghanistan

The MOAB weighs about 22,000 pounds (10,000 kg) and is the most powerful non-nuclear weapon ever designed. It was developed during the US war on Iraq and is intended to target large below-surface areas.

Military experts said the blast would “feel like a nuclear weapon to anyone near the area."

A month after taking charge of the White House, Trump promised a "massive” increase in military spending, saying he will implement “the greatest military build-up in American history.”

“We will be substantially upgrading all of our military, all of our military, offensive, defensive, everything, bigger and better and stronger than ever before,” he said. “And hopefully, we'll never have to use it, but nobody's going to mess with us.”

Trump has also said he wants to expand the US nuclear arsenal to ensure it is at the "top of the pack."

Trump plans to increase military spending by $54 billion to an already 600 to 800 billion dollar military budget and slash the same amount from non-military spending.

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During his election campaign last year, Trump had repeatedly vowed to “make America great again.” 

According to analysts, Trump's mantra of “make America great again” actually means “make America’s military great again,” because he is “more interested in the bald exercise of political, economic and military power.”

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