{"id":434321,"date":"2025-09-18T19:35:12","date_gmt":"2025-09-18T19:35:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/434321\/"},"modified":"2025-09-18T19:35:12","modified_gmt":"2025-09-18T19:35:12","slug":"us-seeking-to-regain-control-of-afghanistans-bagram-airbase-says-trump-us-foreign-policy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/434321\/","title":{"rendered":"US seeking to regain control of Afghanistan\u2019s Bagram airbase, says Trump | US foreign policy"},"content":{"rendered":"

The United States is seeking to retake control of Bagram airbase from the Taliban, Donald Trump<\/a> has said, bringing back a key strategic asset that was surrendered during the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan.<\/p>\n

The US president suggested he was negotiating with the Taliban<\/a> for American forces to once again occupy the base, formerly the largest US military site in the country, and an important regional foothold because of its proximity to China.<\/p>\n

His comments about China will alarm western allies, who have been watching the relationship between the two superpowers carefully, amid fears that heightened tensions could lead to further economic turbulence, and even military skirmishes.<\/p>\n

During a joint press conference with Keir Starmer at Chequers on Thursday, as he wrapped up a visit to the UK, the US president said: \u201cOne of the biggest airbases in the world. We gave it to them for nothing. We\u2019re trying to get it back, by the way.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re 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\u2019s an hour away from where China makes its nuclear weapons.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump has criticised his predecessor, Joe Biden, over the tumultuous US withdrawal from Afghanistan<\/a> in 2021, claiming that it left American weapons and other military assets, including bases, in the hands of the Taliban.<\/p>\n

In February at his first cabinet meeting after his re-election, Trump said that in his previous Afghanistan<\/a> withdrawal plan, \u201cwe were going to keep Bagram \u2026 not because of Afghanistan but because of China because its exactly one hour away from where China makes its nuclear missiles\u201d.<\/p>\n

He went on to say that Bagram was one of the biggest airbases in the world, with one of the biggest runways constructed of heavy concrete and steel. The airfield has an 11,800ft (3,600-metre) runway capable of serving bombers and large cargo aircraft.<\/p>\n

Trump also claimed at the time that China was occupying the airfield. The Taliban have since rejected Trump\u2019s claims.<\/p>\n

Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said the airfield was controlled by Afghanistan, not China.<\/p>\n

According to reports, the Taliban have been interested in normalising ties with the US after they were geopolitically isolated as a result of human rights abuses and the ongoing terror threat.<\/p>\n

In an indication that Trump is losing patience with Vladimir Putin over the conflict in Ukraine, he said that the Russian president had \u201creally let me down\u201d by continuing his attacks but added: \u201cWe\u2019re going to get it done.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said he had thought the Ukraine war would be solved \u201cwithin days\u201d of his entering the White House.<\/p>\n

Trump said: \u201cThe one that I thought would be easiest \u2026 because of my relationship with President Putin, but he\u2019s let me down. He\u2019s really let me down \u2026 I thought it might be among the easiest of the group.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The United States is seeking to retake control of Bagram airbase from the Taliban, Donald Trump has said,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":434322,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[12,26],"class_list":{"0":"post-434321","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-news","9":"tag-world"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115226982847157897","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434321","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=434321"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434321\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/434322"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=434321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=434321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=434321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}