Trump tells Afghanistan to return Bagram base to US ‘or bad things are gonna happen’
US President Donald Trump has threatened the ruling Taliban government in Afghanistan to return control of the Bagram Air Base to the United States, “or bad things are going to happen.”
“If Afghanistan doesn’t give Bagram Airbase back to those that built it, the United States of America, BAD THINGS ARE GOING TO HAPPEN!!!” Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social, on Saturday.
It came a day after the Taliban rejected Trump’s call to return the airbase, located some 64km from the Afghan capital, Kabul.
Since returning to power, Trump has repeatedly criticized his predecessor Joe Biden, blaming him for the messy US pullout from Afghanistan, including from the air base. He has also complained about China’s growing influence in the region after the US withdrawal.
Asked on Saturday by reporters at the White House’s Oval Office whether he would send US troops to retake the air base, Trump said, “We’ll see what happens with Bagram.”
“We’re talking to Afghanistan. It should have never been given up,” he said. “We’re talking now to Afghanistan, and we want it back and we want it back soon, right away. And if they don’t do it – if they don’t do it, you’re going to find out what I’m gonna do.”
Trump has revealed that Washington started negotiations with the Afghan Talban some time ago for the resumption of US military presence at the Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan.
The sprawling airfield, which was once the epicenter of US military operations in Afghanistan, was formally handed over by the Americans to the Afghan Taliban forces on July 2, 2021, following the full US withdrawal from the country and the collapse of the Afghan government.
Trump has often lamented the loss of access to Bagram, noting its proximity to China, but his comments on Thursday, during a visit to the United Kingdom, were the first time he had made public that he was working on the matter.
“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 at a news conference with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Experts say restoring the US military presence in Bagram will require 10,000+ troops and advanced air defenses. They say if the base is reoccupied by American forces, it would turn into a potential high-value target for extremist forces' attacks against US interests.
At its peak in 2011, nearly 100,000 US troops passed through the Bagram base, apart from some 35,000 American contractors.
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