WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered another review of the U.S. military's chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, and of the suicide bombing at the Kabul airport that killed American troops and Afghans.

President Donald Trump and Hegseth have repeatedly blasted the Biden administration for the withdrawal, which Hegseth said Tuesday was “disastrous and embarrassing.” He said the new review will interview witnesses, analyze the decision-making and “get the truth.”

There have already been multiple reviews^[1] of the withdrawal by the Pentagon, U.S. Central Command, the State Department and Congress, which have involved hundreds of interviews and studies of videos, photographs and other footage and data. It's unclear what specific new information the new review is seeking.

The Abbey Gate bombing during the final days of the Afghanistan withdrawal^[2] killed 13 U.S. service members and 170 Afghans, and wounded scores more. It triggered widespread debate and congressional criticism, fueled by searing photographs of desperate Afghans trying to crowd into the airport to get out of Kabul, with some clinging to U.S. military aircraft as they were taking off.

A detailed U.S. military review^[3] was ordered in 2023 to expand the number of people interviewed, after a Marine injured in the blast said snipers believed they saw the possible bomber but couldn’t get approval to take him out.

The findings, released in 2024, refuted^[4] those assertions and concluded that the bombing was not preventable. A congressional review was highly critical of the withdrawal, saying the Biden administration did not adequately prepare for it or for all the contingencies and put personnel in danger.

Others, however, have faulted the State Department for not moving quickly enough to decide on an evacuation, resulting in a rush to get out as the Taliban took control of the country. Critics have also blamed Trump for making a deal with the Taliban in 2020 when he was president to remove U.S. troops from Afghanistan, which decreased the number of forces on the ground as the pullout went on.

Both Trump and then-President Joe Biden wanted an end to the war and U.S. troops out of Afghanistan.

The new review will be led by Sean Parnell, the assistant to the secretary of defense for public affairs. He will convene a panel that will provide updates “at appropriate times,” but there is no time frame or deadline for any report, which is very unusual.

President Donald Trump has named a four-star Space Force^[1] general to oversee the development of Golden Dome -- the massively expensive space-based missile defense system promised during the first days of his second term.

During a press conference in the Oval Office on Tuesday, Trump named Gen. Michael Guetlein, the vice chief of space operations, as the "direct reporting program manager" for the effort to build a missile shield over the U.S.

"He has an unmatched background in missile warning technology and defense procurement," Trump said during the announcement. "Gen. Guetlein also knows that we need to move fast. No one is more qualified for this job."

Read Next: Secretary Noem Orders Coast Guard to Cut 25% of Flag Officer Positions^[2]

Trump's announcement did not provide many specific details regarding the companies and technologies that would be used to create the proposed space-based defense system, which the administration says would be capable of stopping all types of attacks on American soil including from ballistic, hypersonic and even nuclear missiles.

Inspired by Israel's Iron Dome defense system, which protects against short-range missile threats for a country roughly the size New Jersey, Trump made a bold promise to create America's own system. He issued an executive order in the first month of his second term making it a top priority, and he claims it should be complete by the end of his time in office.

"This design for the Golden Dome will integrate with our existing defense capabilities and should be fully operational before the end of my term," Trump said. "So we'll have it done in about three years."

Trump claimed that a design had been selected and that it will cost roughly $175 billion to complete. That is less than the potential $542 billion to $831 billion high-end cost for Golden Dome over next 20 years projected by the Congressional Budget Office earlier this month^[3].

In the Oval Office, Trump touted the $25 billion proposed for Golden Dome in a massive funding bill being pushed through Congress as a down payment of sorts for the project. Notably, that bill as a whole is facing opposition from Republicans and Democrats alike.

Guetlein, a four-star general who has served as the Space Force's second top officer since late 2023, thanked Trump for the new role and doubled down on support for the project.

"Golden Dome is a bold and aggressive approach to hurry up and protect the homeland from our adversaries," Guetlein said. "We owe it to our children and our children's children to protect them and afford them a quality of life that we have all grown up enjoying. Golden Dome will afford that."

Gen. Chance Saltzman, the Space Force's top uniformed leader, praised Guetlein's appointment in a statement on social media.

"No one is more uniquely qualified to make Golden Dome a reality than my teammate and brother-in-arms, Gen. Michael Guetlein," Saltzman said. "Congrats, Mike!"

Spokespeople for the Department of the Air Force^[4] did not immediately return a request for comment asking how Guetlein will balance the new role with his existing duties.

Todd Harrison, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute think tank who focuses on defense and space policy, said Guetlein was "an excellent choice and the ideal person to be leading an effort this complex."

Guetlein previously served as the head of Space Systems Command, deputy director and Air Force element commander of the National Reconnaissance Office, and was a program executive at the Missile Defense Agency, according to his biography.

Harrison added that besides naming the well-qualified general, there were many more details about the Golden Dome project that needed to be made public.

"Other than naming Guetlein, the whole event was disappointingly short on specifics," Harrison said.

Related: Options for Trump's Space-Based 'Golden Dome' Missile Defense Shield Head to Hegseth for Approval^[5]