Trump is optimistic about Afghanistan negotiations and warnings in Congress of a bad deal

US President Donald Trump said he had concluded a "very good" meeting on Afghanistan, and in a Twitter tweet he looked forward to a deal if possible.

Trump's tweet followed his meeting with his national security team to discuss peace negotiations in Afghanistan and withdrawal arrangements.

The White House said in a statement that the meeting included the Vice President and Secretary of Defense, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the National Security Adviser, the Secretary of State, the Director of the CIA, as well as the US Special Envoy to Afghanistan.

He added that the meeting focused on a final peace and reconciliation agreement with the Taliban, noting that negotiations are progressing and that the meeting was well.

For its part, the State Department said that Washington is working hard to achieve a comprehensive peace agreement in Afghanistan, including a cease-fire and violence. It also includes not using Afghan territory to threaten the United States or its allies, the statement said.

On Friday, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham published tweets in which he hoped the president and his team would make sound and sustainable decisions about the threats he described as extremist Islamism from Afghanistan, which he said was the site of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

Graham called on President Trump to learn from the mistakes of his predecessor Barack Obama and listen to the national security team, as a bad deal, he said, would stimulate extremism.

Washington wants a possible peace deal to include a ceasefire and negotiations between the Taliban and the Afghan government for power-sharing, although the group still refuses to negotiate with the authorities in Kabul as a "puppet" of the Americans.

Earlier this month, US officials confirmed that their country plans to reduce the number of troops in Afghanistan from the current 14 thousand to about 9000 in a few months, under an initial peace agreement with the Taliban.

Earlier this month, CNN quoted US sources as saying the Trump administration was seeking to reduce the number of its diplomats in Kabul as part of arrangements for a possible peace deal with the Taliban.