Donald Trump made it quite clear during the campaign that he despises “nation-building.” That’s hardly a surprise; nation-building is long, expensive, thankless, and frequently unsuccessful work. It’s hardly something that would appeal to a man with the patience of a gnat.
Unfortunately, you can’t just blow the Taliban to hell and be done with it as long as they have a refuge in Pakistan. That leaves you with two choices: give the Afghan government the resources to fight and then tell it to sink or swim; or escalate the war and try to strengthen Afghan political institutions for an indefinite, and probably infinite, period.
Obama preferred the first option. It appears that Trump, prompted by the generals, will probably choose the second. Another name for Option #2 is “nation-building.”