US President Donald Trump said that he wants Bagram air base in Afghanistan returned to US control, in a move that could reignite American involvement in the country and the strategic asset that was lost during the chaotic Western withdrawal four years ago.
Speaking alongside UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on September 18, Trump suggested that his administration was negotiating with the Taliban for US forces to once again occupy the base outside of Kabul, which was abandoned in 2021 shortly before the Taliban retook control of Afghanistan.
He also said that the base’s strategic location close to nuclear sites in China, which shares a short 92-kilometer border with Afghanistan, made it particularly valuable.
“We’re trying to get it back because they need things from us. We want that base back,” Trump said during the joint press conference in Britain. “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.”
Trump didn't elaborate on what the Taliban might need from the United States and it is unclear whether he was referring to an actual plan to retake ownership of Bagram or which exact Chinese facilities he was mentioning.
But his comments were the first public acknowledgment that negotiations to reclaim the base and other American military assets that fell into the hands of the Taliban might be underway.
Why Is Bagram Air Base Important?
Bagram, which is about 40 kilometers north of Kabul and was built by the Soviet Union in the 1950s, was the largest US base in Afghanistan and served as the central command during its 20-year occupation of the country.
During his September 18 press conference, Trump said that Bagram was one of the largest air bases in the world, with one of the biggest runways constructed of heavy concrete and steel.
The airfield has a 3.6-kilometer runway capable of serving bombers and large cargo aircraft.
Trump had reached an agreement to withdraw from Afghanistan near the end of his first term, but then-US president Joe Biden took over the plans in 2021. Trump has repeatedly criticized his predecessor's handling of the military pullout, which saw the United States leave behind thousands of weapons and other pieces of military equipment and a sprawling embassy compound that sits vacant in the center of Kabul.
Why Is Trump Focused On China's Nuclear Weapons?
Trump’s argument that Bagram is an important regional foothold because of its proximity to China is not new.
The US president claimed during his election campaign that Bagram was under the control of China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and during the first cabinet meeting of his second term, he said that in his Afghanistan withdrawal plan, “we were going to keep Bagram … not because of Afghanistan but because of China because it's exactly one hour away from where China makes its nuclear missiles.
At the time, he claimed that Bagram was “now under China’s influence.”
The Taliban denied the claims and China has no known military footprint at Bagram.
But his comments about Chinese nuclear facilities appear to be referring to the long-standing Lop Nurnuclear test range, some 2,000 kilometers across the border in the northwestern Xinjiang region.
The facility was where China tested its first nuclear bomb nearly 60 years ago and satellite images appear to show an expansion of new buildings and roads around the area since 2017. The site is not known to be where nuclear weapons are manufactured, with Chinese production believed to be concentrated in the center of the country.
This comes as China has been rapidly expanding its nuclear forces in recent years, which has set off some alarm bells at the Pentagon, which said that the PLA had expanded its nuclear stockpile to 600 warheads by mid-2024, a 20 percent annual increase.
Can Trump Gain Control Of Bagram From The Taliban?
Trump did not specify in his recent comments what exactly he envisioned for Bagram, but his remarks come amid increased engagement between the Taliban and US envoys.
Washington has kept a minimal level of public engagement with Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover, restricting it to hostage negotiations. Afghanistan has remained largely isolated on the global stage and its economy is struggling to attract foreign support and private investments.
But in a rare visit last week, Adam Boehler, the Trump administration’s special envoy for hostage response, met with Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in Kabul.
Taliban officials also rejected Trump’s suggestion that the United States might regain control of Bagram, but they left open the possibility of talks to improve ties.
“Without the US having any military presence in Afghanistan, both Afghanistan and the US need to engage with each other, and they can have political and economic relations based on mutual respect and shared interests,” Zakir Jalaly, a Taliban foreign ministry official, said on social media.
“Afghans have never accepted the military presence of anyone throughout history,” Jalaly added. “But for other kinds of engagement, all paths remain open for them.”
Other Taliban officials struck a more defiant tone in their public comments.
Muhajer Farahi, a Taliban deputy minister, posted part of a poem on X: “Those who once smashed their heads against the rocks with us, their minds have still not found peace.”
He ended his post with “Bagram, Afghanistan.”
The State Department and the White House have not provided public comment about Bagram, while Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement provided to reporters that the Department of War “routinely reviews how the Department would respond to a variety of contingencies across the globe” and that “we are always ready to execute any mission at the President’s direction.”
