Trump says he is working to get Afghan air base from Taliban

LONDON – The United States is working to regain control of Bagram air base from the Taliban in Afghanistan, President Donald Trump said Thursday, describing it as “one of the biggest air bases in the world” and suggesting it is “an hour away from where China makes its nuclear weapons.”

“Okay, that could be a little breaking news,” Trump said during a news conference with Prime Minister Keir Starmer during a state visit to Britain. “We’re trying to get it back because they need things from us. We want that base back.”

It was not immediately clear how far talks over the return of the base, which the U.S. military left four years ago, to American control have progressed or how they were conducted.

Such an outcome would signify a remarkable rapprochement. The United States ousted the Taliban from power after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and waged war against them for 20 years before a disastrous withdrawal in 2021 led to the collapse of the U.S.-backed government and the Taliban’s return to power. Relations between the two sides have been almost nonexistent since then amid the Taliban’s repressive rule.

Taliban leaders have pushed hard to break that isolation, arguing that their stance on human rights is a “domestic matter” that should be free from foreign interference. The Taliban also want sanctions against them dropped and access restored to central bank assets that the United States froze after their violent takeover.

Earlier this year, Russia became the first country to formally recognize the Taliban as the legitimate authority in Afghanistan, a move that Moscow said would allow for increased coordination on counterterrorism. An affiliate of the Islamic State group that maintains a presence in Afghanistan’s east asserted responsibility for an attack in Russia last year.

Despite considerable international pressure, the Taliban have not significantly moderated any of their positions on the rights of women and girls since taking power in 2021.

While the United States has not granted the Taliban formal recognition, senior U.S. officials have met with the group to negotiate the release of Americans held in Afghanistan.

Adam Boehler, special envoy for hostage response, was photographed this month in Kabul meeting with Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi. The Taliban later released a statement that the two sides had agreed to a prisoner swap as part of an effort to normalize relations. Boehler did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Previous Trump comments have suggested he wants to regain control of Bagram as a counter to China, but it is unclear what he meant. Bagram remains under the control of the Taliban. China has maintained significant economic ties with Afghanistan throughout the Taliban takeover. China is involved in mineral exploitation in Afghanistan and invited the country to join a multibillion-dollar infrastructure project it is pursing with Pakistan.

Trump was speaking about the base as he criticized former president Joe Biden for the U.S. withdrawal in 2021, which he described as a “total disaster.” Trump, who had made the initial plans to pull out of Afghanistan during his first term in office, said he would have done it with “strength and dignity.” He signed that withdrawal deal despite years of internal discussion about the long-term strategic value of the base, including its proximity to China and use as a counterterrorism hub in the region.

Bagram, about 40 miles north of Kabul in Parwan province, had served as the center of the U.S. counterterrorism campaign across Afghanistan after the 2001 invasion. The base was built for the Soviet Union in the 1950s, but with two large concrete runways, it was later able to serve as the launch site for fighter jets, cargo planes and drones during the U.S. military presence.

The site also became notorious for detention centers where torture occurred under the watch of U.S. and Afghan officials, according to reports from the United Nations, human rights groups and the U.S. government itself.

The air base itself was handed over to the Afghan government in July 2021 as the U.S. military prepared to withdraw. It was overrun by Taliban forces the following month and has since seen little use.