Trump says US working to retake Afghanistan’s Bagram air base from Taliban to counter China

US President Donald Trump on Thursday suggested that his administration is working to re-establish a US presence at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, four years after the chaotic withdrawal handed control of the facility to the Taliban.

Trump floated the idea during a press conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in London, tying it to Washington’s need to counter China. “We’re trying to get it back,” he said when asked about efforts to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The President has repeatedly argued that if the 2021 withdrawal had occurred under his leadership, the US would have retained control of Bagram, citing its proximity to China as strategically vital. Earlier this month, he called the Biden administration “so stupid” for abandoning the base.

The US exit from Afghanistan in August 2021, carried out under President Joe Biden following a deal Trump negotiated with the Taliban—saw the collapse of the Afghan government, a deadly suicide bombing that killed 13 American troops and 170 civilians, and chaotic scenes at Kabul airport as thousands sought evacuation.

The episode marked a major setback for Biden just months into his presidency, one that Republicans, led by Trump, have consistently cited as evidence of failed leadership. Trump has also argued that the withdrawal emboldened Russian President Vladimir Putin to launch the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

“He would have never done what he did, except that he didn’t respect the leadership of the United States,” Trump said, speaking of Putin. “They just went through the Afghanistan total disaster for no reason whatsoever. We were going to leave Afghanistan, but we were going to leave it with strength and dignity. We were going to keep Bagram Air Base — one of the biggest air bases in the world. We gave it to them for nothing.”

It is unclear if the U.S. has any new direct or indirect conversations with the Taliban government about returning to the country. But Trump hinted that the Taliban, who have struggled with an economic crisis, international legitimacy, internal rifts and rival militant groups since their return to power in 2021, could be game to allow the U.S. military to return.

“We’re trying to get it back because they need things from us,” Trump said of the Taliban.

The president repeated his view that a U.S. presence at Bagram is of value because of its proximity to China, the most significant economic and military competitor to the United States.

“But one of the reasons we want that base is, as you know, it’s an hour away from where China makes its nuclear weapons,” Trump said. “So a lot of things are happening.”

While the U.S. and the Taliban have no formal diplomatic ties, the sides have had hostage conversations. An American man who was abducted more than two years ago while traveling through Afghanistan as a tourist was released by the Taliban in March.

Last week, the Taliban also said they reached an agreement with U.S. envoys on an exchange of prisoners as part of an effort to normalize relations between the United States and Afghanistan.

The Taliban gave no details of a detainee swap, and the White House did not comment on the meeting in Kabul or the results described in a Taliban statement. The Taliban released photographs from their talks, showing their foreign minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, with Trump’s special envoy for hostage response, Adam Boehler.

Officials at U.S. Central Command in the Middle East and the Pentagon, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s office, referred questions about reestablishing a presence at Bagram to the White House.

With inputs from agencies