President Donald Trump speaks at Fort Myer in Arlington, Virginia on Aug. 21. | Carolyn Kaster/AP Defense hawks cheer Trump's Afghanistan speech But Democrats on Capitol Hill said it was woefully short on specifics.

In going against his instincts on Afghanistan, President Donald Trump won the praise of some of his toughest critics — defense hawks in Congress.

Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who’ve blasted Trump in the past over his nationalistic foreign-policy views, hailed the president’s decision Monday to increase the U.S. footprint in the 16-year war against the Taliban.


“I commend President Trump for taking a big step in the right direction with the new strategy for Afghanistan,” said McCain, who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee. “I believe the president is now moving us well beyond the prior administration's failed strategy of merely postponing defeat.”

McCain touted the fact that Trump’s strategy “gives no timeline for withdrawal” — one of the senator's major issues with the war plan pursued by former President Barack Obama.

On Fox News, Graham said he was “proud” of Trump.

“President Trump has the smarts and the moral courage to listen to his generals and take their advice rather than go the political way,” he said.

Congressional Democrats, though, blasted what they viewed as an open-ended commitment by Trump without clear parameters.

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“The President’s announcement is low on details but raises serious questions,” said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). “When President Trump says there will be no ceiling on the number of troops and no timeline for withdrawal, he is declaring an open-ended commitment of American lives with no accountability to the American people.”

Added Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.): “A plan that took this dysfunctional administration seven months to finalize is surprisingly short on new thinking and new ideas and will serve only to perpetuate a dangerous status quo.”

For their part, Republican leaders lauded the announcement, with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) commending the administration for its “thoughtful review of our engagement in the region.”

House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) praised Trump’s decision to move away from Obama’s timetable-based withdrawal plan. “If [the Taliban] believe that we have some end date, some timetable, then they will wait us out and then they will come back and fill that vacuum with terror,” Ryan said at a town hall hosted by CNN.

In an address to the nation Monday, Trump said his instincts had told him to pull out of Afghanistan entirely. But after careful review he decided on the opposite approach. He said he was giving new authorities and more resources to U.S. military commanders to continue waging war against the Taliban with a goal of a negotiated peace settlement.

“A hasty withdrawal would create a vacuum that terrorists — including ISIS and Al Qaeda — would instantly fill,” Trump said of his change of heart on the issue.

In information sent Monday to Capitol Hill, the White House said it did not plan to request more war funding for the current fiscal year but would continue to evaluate funding needs for the upcoming 2018 fiscal year. The White House did not spell out its planned troop levels in the information it sent to the Hill, advising lawmakers that Trump will not telegraph his actions in advance to America's enemies.

Many other congressional Republicans issued statements of support for the revamped strategy in Afghanistan.

Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) said he is happy with “the direction President Trump laid out tonight.” Corker said he was briefed ahead of the announcement by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, adding: “I look forward to receiving additional details.”

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), who along with McCain and Graham is one of the most outspoken defense hawks on Capitol Hill, said Trump “gave a strong speech tonight.”

“We cannot allow [Afghanistan] to fall back into the hands of Islamist terrorists — because they’ll use it to launch even more attacks against us,” Cotton said.

Anti-war groups, meanwhile, slammed Trump’s new approach.

MoveOn said his plan to "double down" on the U.S. committment to Afghanistan "would be a military, economic, and humanitarian disaster." And Stephen Miles, director of the group Win Without War, said “President Trump should have listened to candidate Trump.”

“What has already proven to be ineffective is more American troops and bombs,” Miles said.

John Bresnahan contributed to this report.