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Trump Says U.S. Trying to Get Back Bagram Airfield From Taliban



President Trump on Thursday announced that the United States is attempting to U.S. Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan "back." He made his remarks while standing next to U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and criticized former President Joe Biden's handling of the Afghanistan pullout, which killed 13 U.S. service members. 

"We're trying to get it back," Trump said. "We're trying to get it back because they need things from us. 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."

Bagram sits near China’s Xinjiang region, an autonomous territory in the country’s northwest, where Beijing has some of its nuclear infrastructure.

The President did not specify who he is trying to get the base back from, although most likely, he would be negotiating with the Taliban, who took over the country in 2021. He also did not specify what the Taliban might need from the United States that could spark negotiations. 

Both U.S. and NATO forces pulled out of Bagram in July 2021, effectively handing the base over to the Taliban. The group quickly freed prisoners held there. Soon after, as U.S. forces and allies scrambled to exit the country, a suicide bomber struck Kabul airport, killing more than 180 people, including 13 American service members.

President Trump called the withdrawal the “most embarrassing” moment in U.S. history.