The Trump administration plans to announce the removal of around 4,000 troops from Afghanistan amid the president's desire to remove all troops from the country by November 2020, U.S. officials say.

The U.S. currently has between 12,000 and 13,000 troops stationed in Afghanistan, and the withdrawal would leave behind between 8,000 to 9,000 troops .

Two U.S. officials told NBC News that the reduction in would include a combination of troops re-deploying early and others not being replaced when they rotate out of the position.

Officials also described the move as a staggered withdrawal that would occur over a few months.

The Trump administration intends to announce the removal of around 4,000 U.S. troops from Afghanistan as early as next week

The administration's announcement comes just days after Zalmay Khalilzad, the Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation, rejoined diplomatic talks with the Taliban after the group broke down in September.

Khalilzad, who's position entails securing peaceful resolutions to conflicts in Afghanistan, said on Thursday that the U.S. was 'taking a brief pause' in peace talks after an attack on Wednesday killed two Afghan civilians and wounded 70 others.

Taliban fighters reportedly failed to breach the U.S. military base, Bagram Airbase, but a suicide bombing struck a nearby medical facility.

Zalmay Khalilzad, the Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation. said the U.S. was taking a 'brief pause' from peace talks with the Taliban on Thursday

As of now, a spokesman for the U.S. forces-Afghanistan said they have not received direct orders to remove troops.

'U.S. Forces-Afghanistan has not received orders to reduce troop levels in Afghanistan,' the spokesman said.

'We remain fully committed to the Resolute Support mission and our Afghan partners, and focused on our key objective: ensuring Afghanistan is never again used as a safe haven for terrorists who threaten the United States, our allies or our interests.'

Pictured: Two U.S. soldiers stationed in Afghanistan looking over a hillside in June 2019

Last weekend, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper told audience members at the Reagan National Defense Forum that the cutback on U.S. troops will happen regardless of whether the Taliban negotiates an agreement or not.

Gen. Scott Miller, the commander in Afghanistan, assured that he can endure a reduction in troops.

Esper said in October that the U.S. could decrease to 8,600 troops without negatively affecting their counterterror operations.

'The commander feels confident we can go down to a lower level without jeopardizing our ability to ensure that Afghanistan doesn't become a safe haven for terrorism,' he said.

Esper added that he hopes to relocate those troops from CENTCOM to the Asia Pacific region, which he refers to as his 'priority theater.'

President Donald Trump (pictured) has been vocal about his desire to remove U.S. troops from overseas since his 2016 presidential campaign

The withdrawal announcement is 'part of trying to reset the talks with the Taliban,' Esper said, and with this move Khalizad can propose to the Taliban that the two sides restart negotiations where they left off.

Ideally, with the U.S. withdrawing troops and the Taliban agreeing to a ceasefire.

'This takes us to the minimum that you have to keep in the country to remain credible negotiating with the Taliban,' Esper said.

Gen. Frank McKenzie, the commander of U.S. Central Command, participated in meetings to discuss the U.S. troops footprint the Middle East on Thursday, officials say.

Those meetings also included discussions about increasing U.S. military's footprint in other parts of the Middle East to counter threats from Iran.

President Donald Trump has been vocal with his push to withdrawal U.S. troops from Afghanistan since his first presidential campaign run in 2016.

He promised Americans to end wars like the one in Afghanistan and lower the number of U.S. troops deployed overseas.

Trump surprised U.S. troops in Afghanistan on Thanksgiving in a secrete visit that included a holiday meal and a speech to rally the soldiers

In 2018, The White House ordered the Pentagon to create plans to remove troops from Afghanistan as Trump looked over his options.

At the time, The White House asked the Pentagon to consider several options, including complete withdrawal from the country.

Over the past three years his advisers have persuaded him otherwise in regards to the ongoing Afghanistan mission, but he took a stance in October when he suddenly pulled troops out of Syria.

Trump has reportedly made it clear to his advisers earlier this year that he wants all U.S. troops removed from Afghanistan in time for the 2020 presidential election.

'It's all about talking points in 2020,' a former official said.

Over Thanksgiving holiday, Trump made a surprise visit to U.S. troops in Afghanistan that culminated to him eating meals with the soldiers, giving a rallying speech and meeting with Afghanistan's president, Ashraf Ghani.

He told the soldiers: 'There is nowhere that I'd rather celebrate this Thanksgiving than right here with the toughest, strongest best and bravest warriors on the face of the Earth.'

Trump (right) met with Afghanistan's president, Ashraf Ghani (left) during his surprise visit to Afghanistan in his first visit to the country

Trump visited Ghani to announce that he will has restarted discussions with the Taliban.

It was Trump's first visit to the country and follows his abrupt end to discussing peace talks with the Taliban after a bombing in Kabuel killed 12 people, including an American soldier.

Trump said that he believes the Taliban wants a ceasefire.

'The Taliban wants to make a deal — we’ll see if they make a deal. If they do they do, and if they don’t they don’t. That's fine,' he said.

'The Taliban wants to make a deal and we’re meeting with them and we’re saying it has s to be a cease fire and they didn’t want to do a cease fire and now they do want to do a cease fire. I believe it’ll probably work out that way,' he noted.