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Stephen K. Bannon is back at Breitbart and, as promised, hes not pulling any punches.

Trump reverses course, will send more troops to Afghanistan, read the headline on Breitbarts homepage following President Trumps prime time address on U.S. military strategy in Afghanistan. Defends flip-flop in somber speech.

Trumps Monday night speech in which he furthercommitted troops to the nations longest war, but offered few specifics represented another clash between Trump andBannon, who returned to Breitbart on Friday, the same day he wasousted as Trumps chief strategist.

The speech was a disappointment to many who had supported his calls during the campaign to end expensive foreign intervention and nation-building, wrote Breitbarts Pentagon correspondent Kristina Wong in the sites lead article. He acknowledged the frustration that Americans felt after 16 years of war without an end in sight.

Bannon, who left Breitbart just a little over a year ago to join Trumps presidential campaign, is back as its executive chairman and led an editorial meeting Friday evening. Earlier in the day, Breitbart senior editor-at-large Joel B. Pollak tweeted #WARwhen news emerged that Bannon would leave the White House.

But Bannon says he wont be going to war against the president, but on his behalf,he told Bloomberg News.

If theres any confusion out there, let me clear it up: Im leaving the White House and going to war for Trump against his opponents on Capitol Hill, in the media, and in corporate America, Bannon said.

Breitbart started out as a small site bent on exposing the liberal bias in mainstream media. Now, its former executive, Stephen Bannon, is in the White House, and the site has begun targeting political adversaries of the Trump administration. (Erin Patrick O'Connor/The Washington Post)

Despite his assurances, Bannons site was rough on the president Monday night.

A top architect of Trumps nationalist agenda, Bannon has long opposed sending additional U.S. troops to Afghanistan, which put him at odds with Trumps national security adviser H.R. McMaster. Instead, he recruited Erik D. Prince, a founder of the private security firm Blackwater Worldwide, to develop proposals to have private contractors continue fighting in Afghanistan instead of U.S. troops,according to the New York Times.Defense SecretaryJim Mattisdeclined to include Bannons strategy in the review of Afghanistan policy he led with McMaster, according to the Times.

In a Breitbartarticle that went up before Trump began his much-anticipated address, Princetold conservative news sitethat heanticipated Trump would roll over and accept the same failed DOD paradigm of the last 16 years.

As interested in diversity as the Pentagon claims to be, they arent interested in diversity of opinions on how to end their longest war, Prince said.

In another article from Breibarts preview coverage, Pollak wrotethat the president risks fumbling into the kind of intractable conflict he specifically promised his voters he would avoid.

But on its Twitter account, Breitbarts reviews of the presidents speech seemeddecidedly less critical.

The American people are weary of war without victory, read one tweet, which linked to Wongs article. Another quoted New York Times correspondent Maggie Haberman, who said Trump gave his best speech as POTUS.

Trump who has for years called for a withdrawal from the war said during his speech that although his original instinct was to pull out, decisions are much different when you sit behind the desk in the Oval Office.

He provided few specifics about how much the U.S. military commitment would increase.

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Bannon's Breitbart spins Trump's Afghanistan speech as 'flip-flop' - Washington Post

One current estimate pegs the conflict's total cost at $841 billion. That comes from Anthony Cordesman, the Arleigh A. Burke Chair in Strategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Cordesman, who served as a consultant to the Departments of State and Defense during the Afghan and Iraq wars, says that figure includes Trump's budget request for next year.

Related from CNN: Afghanistan: 16 years, thousands dead and no clear end in sight

Other estimates place the 16-year cost in the trillions of dollars because they measure a broader range of factors.

For instance, Neta Crawford, a co-director of the Cost of Wars Project at Brown University, has estimated that total war spending in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan since 2001 is approaching $5 trillion. Of that, roughly $2 trillion is attributable to Afghanistan. That includes some future cost obligations.

But even that higher figure leaves out some key expenses, such as the future costs of interest Americans will owe for the money borrowed to finance the war in Afghanistan. That alone could add trillions of dollars to the total tab.

While the U.S. has a history of wartime taxation to finance military conflicts -- albeit uneven -- that tradition was broken with the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, according to tax historian Joe Thorndike. Not only did Congress not pass a tax to finance the efforts, it opted instead to pass the Bush tax cuts.

Related: The U.S. already spends more on defense than any other country

The $2 trillion also doesn't include future spending on the Department of Veterans Affairs related to Afghanistan or the money paid by states and localities for services provided to returning vets.

Estimates vary widely because there is no clearly delineated, uniform way that money spent on wars is allocated or counted by the White House or Congress.

And, of course, no financial estimate can offer a measure of the true cost of war -- the loss of human life on all sides as well as the physical and psychological disabilities suffered by those who survive -- whether military or civilian.

CNNMoney (New York) First published August 21, 2017: 5:50 PM ET

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The financial cost of 16 years in Afghanistan - CNNMoney

President Trump isset to address U.S. troops and the nation about the war in Afghanistan Monday night, the White House announced on Sunday, as the president considers whether to take a new approach to the conflict that has stretched on for 16 years.

Trump will "provide an update on the path forward for Americas engagement in Afghanistan and South Asia" at 9 p.m. ET, the White House said. The president is scheduled to speak from Fort Myer in Arlington, Virginia.

The president hinted Saturday that he and top U.S. generals have agreed on a new strategy for America's longest war, after huddling Friday at the presidential Camp David retreat.

"Important day spent at Camp David with our very talented Generals and military leaders," Trump tweeted. "Many decisions made, including on Afghanistan."

Since taking office, Trump has considered several options for Afghanistan, from sending in additional troops to walking away from the war, an unlikely move considering U.S. concerns about thwarting Islamic terrorism.

Solutions for Afghanistan, which include ending the longest war in American history, eluded the Obama administration and have not come easily to Trump.

The challenge is largely how to step up the fight against terrorism in a way that advances peace prospects -- in large part because the Taliban have gained ground and show no interest in peace negotiations.

Trump met at the presidential retreat, in nearby western Maryland, with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, top intelligence agency officials and other top military and diplomatic aides.

Mattis said earlier this week the administration was "very close" to finalizing a new approach, after the defense secretary presented the president with "several" options.

"I'm very comfortable that the strategic process wassufficiently rigorous," Mattis added, saying Trump asked questions about each option.

Months ago the Pentagon settled on a plan to send about 3,800 additional troops to strengthen the Afghan army, which is stuck in what some call a deteriorating situation with the Taliban insurgency. Within in the White House, questions persist about the wisdom of investing further resources in the war. Even if the administration decides to add more troops, it's unclear whether they could get there quickly enough to make a difference in the current Afghan fighting season, which winds down in autumn.

The administration has said its Afghanistan strategy will be informed by a review of its approach to the broader region, including Pakistan and India. The Taliban have long used Pakistan as a sanctuary, complicating efforts to defeat the insurgency in Afghanistan and stabilize the country. The region includes other actors who pose political problems for Washington, including Iran, which has influence in western Afghanistan.

Government forces also are battling an Islamic State affiliate that has carved out a foothold mostly in the east. Trump has vowed to crush ISIS, so its expansion in Afghanistan poses an additional challenge with no immediate solution. Just this week, a U.S. soldier was killed and nearly a dozen were wounded in combat with ISIS fighters.

The U.S. has about 8,400 troops in Afghanistan. Their primary roles are to train and advise Afghan forces and to hunt down and kill members of Al Qaeda and other extremist groups.

Fox News' Kristin Brown, Joseph Weber and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Trump to address nation on Afghanistan | Fox News

President Trump hinted Saturday that he and top U.S. generals have agreed on a new strategy for the war in Afghanistan, after huddling Friday at the presidential Camp David retreat.

"Important day spent at Camp David with our very talented Generals and military leaders," Trump tweeted. "Many decisions made, including on Afghanistan."

Since taking office, Trump has considered several options for Afghanistan, from sending in additional troops to walking away from the war, an unlikely move considering U.S. concerns about thwarting Islamic terrorism.

Solutions for Afghanistan, which include ending the longest war in American history, eluded the Obama administration and haven't come easily to Trump.

The challenge is largely how to step up the fight against terrorism in a way that advances peace prospects -- in large part because the Taliban has been gaining ground and shows no interest in peace negotiations.

Trump met at the presidential retreat, in nearby western Maryland, with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, top intelligence agency officials and other top military and diplomatic aides.

Mattis said earlier this week the administration was "very close" to finalizing a new approach and that the talks in the Catoctin Mountains will help the president and his team move toward a decision.

"We are coming very close, he said. And I anticipate (a decision) in the very near future.

Gen. Joseph Votel, the Central Command chief who is responsible for U.S. military operations in the greater Middle East, was not part of the meetings.

Votel said Mattis and Gen. Joseph Dunford, the Joint Chiefs chairman, represent him in the White House-led Afghanistan strategy review.

He also said he has not talked directly to Trump as part of the months-long review.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders issued a brief statement earlier this week saying Trump had been briefed extensively on a new strategy to protect America's interests in the region. But she did not specifically mention Afghanistan.

The U.S. has about 8,400 troops in Afghanistan. Their primary roles are to train and advise Afghan forces and to hunt down and kill members of Al Qaeda and other extremist groups.

Months ago, the Pentagon settled on a plan to send about 3,800 additional troops to strengthen the Afghan army, which is stuck in what some call a deteriorating situation with the Taliban insurgency.

Within the White House, questions persist about the wisdom of investing further resources in the war. Even if the administration decides to add more troops, it's unclear whether they could get there quickly enough to make a difference in the current Afghan fighting season, which winds down in autumn.

The administration has said its Afghanistan strategy will be informed by a review of its approach to the broader region, including Pakistan and India. The Taliban have long used Pakistan as a sanctuary, complicating efforts to defeat the insurgency in Afghanistan and stabilize the country.

The region includes other actors who pose political problems for Washington, including Iran, which has influence in western Afghanistan.

The outlook is clouded by the Afghan government's struggle to halt Taliban advances on its own. The U.S. special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction has said the Taliban hold sway in almost half the country.

Government forces also are battling an Islamic State affiliate that has carved out a foothold, mostly in the east. Trump has vowed to crush IS, so its expansion in Afghanistan poses an additional challenge with no obvious solution. Just this week, a U.S. soldier was killed and nearly a dozen wounded in combat with IS fighters.

Trump has expressed frustration at the prolonged fighting in Afghanistan. Earlier this summer he raised the idea of firing the top U.S. commander there, Gen. John Nicholson.

Asked this week if Trump has confidence in Nicholson, Mattis demurred. "Ask the president," he answered.

Trump is "looking at all aspects" of U.S. involvement in Afghanistan "as he must in his responsibilities as the commander in chief," Mattis said.

Nicholson also was not participating in Friday's talks at Camp David.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Trump hints at Afghanistan agreement with US generals | Fox News

In a nationally televised primetime address Monday, President Trump will unveil a "path forward" for the U.S. in Afghanistan.

The president returned to the White House Sunday night after a weekend spent in New Jersey with the first family. There, Mr. Trump met with members of his National Security Council and came to a decision on a new strategy in the nearly 16-year long war in Afghanistan to raise troop levels and take a broader approach in the region.

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Seven months into his presidency, President Trump is shifting his focus to "America's longest war" with an announcement Monday. Errol Barnett rep...

Mr. Trump's decision has been delayed for months by concerns that the U.S.-led coalition and Afghan military are not winning the fight against the Taliban, al Qaeda and ISIS. In his address Monday night, Mr. Trump will give his path forward from the longest war in American history, reports CBS News correspondent Margaret Brennan.

The president is expected to green light the deployment of around 4,000 additional U.S. troops to Afghanistan and put new pressure on nearby Pakistan to stop giving safe haven to terrorists.

"The strategic process was sufficiently rigorous and did not go in with a preset condition in terms of what questions could be asked or what decisions would be made," Defense Secretary James Mattis said Sunday.

The president is considering several possibilities to pressure Pakistan into stepping up the fight against terrorism, including reducing aid, taking away its status as a non-NATO ally, and threatening to name Pakistan as a state sponsor of terrorism.

Mattis said U.S. troop numbers may fluctuate, adding to the already more than 8,000 forces in country.

Mr. Trump has questioned whether to pull out of Afghanistan, which the Obama administration had once advocated.

"I want to find out why we've been there for 17 years," Mr. Trump said in July.

"The real question is what is our strategy? And then when you lay out the strategy, then the troop strength question can kind of answer itself," Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine said Sunday on "Face the Nation."

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President Trump has so far rejected the advice of his national security adviser for the next steps in Afghanistan, a war that's been going on for...

In search of a new approach, now former chief strategist Steve Bannon had urged Mr. Trump to send paid mercenaries instead of troops an idea that appeared to die with Bannon's Friday ouster.

Sources tell CBS News the president was frustrated by descriptions of Bannon as his political mastermind. A self-described nationalist, Bannon saw himself as part of a new political order. Within hours of his firing, Bannon rejoined Breitbart news and declared war on the opposition. Bannon told the Weekly Standard, "The Trump presidency that we fought for and won is over."

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Trump's Afghanistan strategy to put new pressure on Pakistan - CBS News