Prince, whose company was renamed Academi, and who now chairs a Chinese-owned company named Frontier Services Group, is unabashedly vying for a lucrative Pentagon contract that would turn over military operations in Afghanistan to a private corporation.

He has gone as far as calling for an "American viceroy" in Afghanistan to fix the United States' failing war.

Prince's bid began on June 1, when he penned an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal suggesting that President Donald Trump should "consolidate authority in Afghanistan with one person: an American viceroy who would lead all U.S. government and coalition efforts." The Trump administration then reportedly reached out to him in July "to devise alternatives to the Pentagon's plan to send thousands of additional troops to Afghanistan." Trump has been resisting calls from Gen. John Nicholson, who leads U.S. and international forces in Afghanistan, for an increase of 20,000 troops.