Biden sticks to August 31 deadline for Afghanistan withdrawal

A senior administration official told CNN that Biden reportedly made the decision Tuesday in consultation with his national security team.

The Taliban has stated that August 31 is a "red line" and that there would be "consequences" if the United States remained in the country longer than the deadline.

The official said that Biden made the decision keeping in mind the security risks associated with staying in the country longer.

Biden also reportedly asked for contingency plans in the case that he determines that the US does need to remain in the country.

Biden spoke during the G7 virtual meeting this morning for seven minutes with international leaders, the White House told CNN.

Some US allies in G7 had been pushing for the United States to remain in Afghanistan to aid in evacuation efforts past the August deadline.

As the deadline looms closer, the White House has said that evacuation efforts are now far exceeding the administration's initial daily goals.

On Tuesday, the White House said that 12,700 people were evacuated by military flights and 8,900 were evacuated by coalition flights over the past 24 hours.

The Pentagon has also stated that the military has increased the pace of flights out of Kabul to one aircraft every 45 minutes, according to CNN.

Since August 14, the day after the Taliban took over Kabul, the US has facilitated the evacuation of around 58,700 people.

On Monday, national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters "We believe that we have time between now and the 31st to get out any American who wants to get out."