The September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks were not planned and directed from Afghanistan, as US President Donald Trump has claimed; rather, they were orchestrated by certain elements in Washington, DC and Tel Aviv, an American scholar and journalist in Wisconsin says.

“[The] Zionist coup d'etat of 9/11 was the combination of Israelis and neo-conservative Americans along with hard-line right-wingers in the American military and the intelligence establishment – [they] pulled off this coup d'etat in America,” Dr. Kevin Barrett said.

Dr. Barrett, a founding member of the Scientific Panel for the Investigation of 9/11, made the remarks in an interview with Press TV on Tuesday while commenting on a statement Trump made on Monday during his policy speech about Afghanistan.

Speaking from Fort Myer, Virginia, Trump unveiled his much-anticipated agenda for Afghanistan.

During his speech, Trump said, “The consequences of a rapid exit [from Afghanistan] are both predictable and unacceptable. 9/11, the worst terrorist attack in our history, was planned and directed from Afghanistan because that country was ruled by a government that gave comfort and shelter to terrorists. A hasty withdrawal would create a vacuum that terrorists, including ISIS and al Qaeda, would instantly fill, just as happened before September 11th.”

‘Trump sending US to graveyard of empires’

“Donald Trump has just committed the United States to an endless quagmire in Afghanistan -- the graveyard of empires. And Trump’s rationale is the same one that has been in force for the past sixteen years which is that Afghanistan was somehow responsible for the attacks on New York and Washington on September 11, 2001,” Dr. Barrett said.

“It is amazing how this gift of 9/11 keeps on giving and Trump is the last person one would have normally expected to do this,” he stated.

“When Trump was running for office, he was skeptical about foreign wars, open-ended engagements. He recognized that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have destroyed America’s economy and infrastructure,” he said.

‘Trump was a 9/11 skeptic’

“And, what’s more Trump was also a 9/11 skeptic. On September 11th itself Trump immediately said that there must have been explosives used. He said there is no way that a plane could possibly take down these buildings. And he was right, as architects and engineers from 9/11 Truth have proven. Thousands of architects and engineers are on record having put their careers and livelihoods and reputations on the line to state that what happened to the three skyscrapers, including the building seven, on 9/11, was clearly a controlled demolition,” Dr. Barrett said.

“So the official narratives of high-jacking by people who were supposedly being commanded by a guy on dialysis in a cave in Afghanistan are utterly ludicrous and have been fully disproven on hundreds and hundreds of grounds,” he stated.

“And now Donald Trump who has expressed skepticism about all of this. In the past he drove (Jeb) Bush out presidential nomination by attacking (George W.) Bush, his brother, as the likely culprit or at least someone who is responsible for 9/11, now Trump who we all hoped might be an irresponsible truth teller that is someone who would tell the incredibly subversive truth about what has really happened to America since the false flag attack of September 11th, all those hopes are now dashed,” he noted.

‘Trump under control of Deep State’

Dr. Barrett said now “Trump is clearly under the control of these elements of the Deep State that murdered three thousand Americans in an act of high treason of September 11, 2001.”

“So those of us who care about the truth and care about the core values that made America great in the first place are now going to have to view Trump as well as the rest of the American leadership as treasonous as enemies,” he concluded.

The September, 11, 2001 attacks, also known as the 9/11 attacks, were a series of strikes in the US which killed nearly 3,000 people and caused about $10 billion worth of property and infrastructure damage.

US officials assert that the attacks were carried out by 19 al-Qaeda terrorists but many experts have raised questions about the official account.

They believe that rogue elements within the US government, such as former Vice President Dick Cheney, orchestrated or at least encouraged the 9/11 attacks in order to accelerate the US war machine and advance the Zionist agenda.