President Donald Trump announced the U.S. is “trying” to get back Bagram Airbase in Afghanistan, years after the controversial withdrawal in 2021. The news came during a press conference with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday.
“We’re trying to get it back, by the way,” Trump said, referring to Bagram. “We’re trying to get it back because they need things from us. We want that base back.”
The president stressed that his focus on Bagram was not about Afghanistan, but China.
Trump has repeatedly said the base is currently under Chinese control, but Afghan authorities have disputed the claims. He cited Chinese interests as a reason for trying to get the base back, saying, “It’s an hour away from where China makes its nuclear weapons.”
When the U.S. had control of the base, it gave Washington the ability to carry out surveillance, support counterterrorism missions and monitor regional adversaries like China, Russia, Iran and Pakistan.
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Afghanistan withdrawal
Back in 2021, the Biden administration ordered the withdrawal from Afghanistan , sparking controversy for years to come. The administration cited the Doha Agreement, a Trump-era agreement with the Taliban to leave Afghanistan by May 2021, as a main reason for the withdrawal.
However, in the years following, the GOP-led House Foreign Affairs Committee conducted an investigation into the withdrawal.
The committee issued a report in 2024, saying the decision to withdraw troops “was not based on the security situation, the Doha Agreement, or the advice of his senior national security advisors or our allies. Rather, it was premised on the president’s longstanding and unyielding opinion that the United States should no longer be in Afghanistan.”
Trump has also been a critic of the withdrawal, saying the move left American weaponry and other military assets in the hands of the Taliban government.
Soldiers, civilians killed
In addition to the military weaponry and assets left behind, the withdrawal also drew controversy over military and civilian deaths.
An Aug. 26, 2021, suicide bombing at Hamid Karzai International Airport’s Abbey Gate in Kabul killed 13 U.S. service members during the withdrawal. The service members were on site supporting the evacuation of American citizens and Afghan allies when the attack occurred.
That same attack killed approximately 170 civilians.
