menu_open Columnists
We use cookies to provide some features and experiences in QOSHE

More information  .  Close

Trump sets his sights on Bagram Air Base

2 25
19.09.2025
*{box-sizing:border-box}body{margin:0;padding:0}a[x-apple-data-detectors]{color:inherit!important;text-decoration:inherit!important}#MessageViewBody a{color:inherit;text-decoration:none}p{line-height:inherit}.desktop_hide,.desktop_hide table{mso-hide:all;display:none;max-height:0;overflow:hidden}.image_block img div{display:none}sub,sup{font-size:75%;line-height:0}#converted-body .list_block ol,#converted-body .list_block ul,.body [class~=x_list_block] ol,.body [class~=x_list_block] ul,u .body .list_block ol,u .body .list_block ul{padding-left:20px} @media (max-width:620px){.desktop_hide table.icons-outer{display:inline-table!important}.image_block div.fullWidth{max-width:100%!important}.mobile_hide{display:none}.row-content{width:100%!important}.stack .column{width:100%;display:block}.mobile_hide{min-height:0;max-height:0;max-width:0;overflow:hidden;font-size:0}.desktop_hide,.desktop_hide table{display:table!important;max-height:none!important}.reverse{display:table;width:100%}.reverse .column.first{display:table-footer-group!important}.reverse .column.last{display:table-header-group!important}.row-6 td.column.first .border,.row-8 td.column.first .border{padding:5px 5px 15px 25px}.row-10 td.column.last .border,.row-6 td.column.last .border,.row-8 td.column.last .border{padding:5px 20px 25px 5px}.row-10 td.column.first .border{padding:5px 5px 15px 25px;border-bottom:15px solid transparent}} Welcome to The Hill's Defense & NatSec newsletter

{beacon}

Defense &
National Security

Defense &
National Security

 

The Big Story

Trump wants to take back Bagram Air Base

President Trump said he is aiming to regain control of Bagram Air Base, which has been under Taliban control since U.S. forces withdrew from Afghanistan in 2021.

© Getty

“We gave it to them for nothing. We’re trying to get it back, by the way. That could be a little breaking news, we’re trying to get it back because they need things from us,” Trump said Thursday of the base.

“We want that base back but one of the reasons we want the base is, as you know, it’s an hour away from where China makes its nuclear weapons,” he added.

The president, while speaking at a press conference in the United Kingdom with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, did not expand on plans to get the base in U.S. hands, nor did he explain what he meant by the Taliban needing “things” from the U.S.

This is the first time Trump has publicly confirmed he wants to find a way to get Bagram back under U.S. control. CNN reported that the president had quietly been pushing his national security officials for months to find a way to get the base back from the Taliban.

The base was the largest U.S. military base in Afghanistan and fell to the Taliban during the chaotic withdrawal under the Biden administration.

At least, Trump has wanted to claw back the base, as his senior national security officials believe it is needed to surveil China, gain access to rare earth minerals in Afghanistan and establish a counterterrorism presence to combat ISIS, according to CNN.

Trump in February asserted the U.S. should have kept control of the base and claimed that China’s People’s Liberation Army had taken control of it, which China previously denied.

Trump has been critical of the 2021 departure, which he set in motion in 2020 when he negotiated and signed a deal with the Taliban committing to an earlier timeline for the drawdown of U.S. forces in Afghanistan. Former President Biden delayed the withdrawal by a few........

© The Hill