Taliban gives deadline for evacuation.

President Biden told G-7 leaders on Tuesday that the United States is on pace to finish its withdrawal from Afghanistan by his Aug. 31 deadline, the White House said in a statement.

The president is set to deliver remarks at 4:30 p.m. ET from the White House — remarks that were originally slated to begin at noon, but were pushed back several hours.

The remarks come as Biden faces blowback from congressional lawmakers on both sides of the aisle over his handling of the withdrawal, as well as questions about whether U.S. troops have enough time to get Americans and allies out of the country.

Biden has asked the Pentagon and State Department for contingency plans if the deadline cannot be met, the White House said.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters the U.S. military will be out of Afghanistan by Aug. 31 “based on the achievement of our objective.”

He told the allies that meeting that “completion of the mission by August 31 depends on continued coordination with the Taliban, including continued access for evacuees to the airport.”

Evacuation effort in Afghanistan totals nearly 59,000 since Aug. 14
So far, the United States has evacuated about 4,000 American passport holders and their families, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said in a statement.

“We expect that number to continue to grow in the coming days,” Kirby said.

In total, about 58,700 people have been evacuated from Afghanistan since Aug. 14, according to the Pentagon. As of Tuesday, 21,600 were evacuated in the last 24 hours.

CIA Chief And Taliban Leader Meet As Taliban Demand Aug. 31 U.S. Withdrawal
NATIONAL SECURITY
The CIA Chief And Taliban Leader Meet As Taliban Hold Firm Against Extending Deadline
Despite the Taliban’s quick takeover of Afghanistan, the president has defended his decision to withdraw, telling White House reporters on Sunday that he believes in the long-term ramifications of his choice.

“I think that history is going to record this was the logical, rational and right decision to make,” Biden said.

Biden has maintained that his goal is to get all Americans who want to leave out of Afghanistan. He has also vowed to try to evacuate as many Afghan allies who aided the U.S throughout the 20-year war as possible.