President Donald Trump on Thursday said his administration is “trying” to get the former U.S. Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan “back” from the Taliban.
In remarks to the press while standing alongside U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, the president criticized the handling of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan under President Joe Biden and said he had “a little breaking news.”
“We’re trying to get it back,” Trump said. “We’re trying to get it back because they need things from us.”
Trump did not expand on whom he was referring to or, if referring to the Taliban, the terrorist organization that took over the country in 2021, what they “need” from the United States.
“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,” Trump added.
The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s questions regarding the president’s claims.
In March, Fox News Digital reported that White House hostage envoy Adam Boehler met in person with Taliban officials at the Kabul International Airport as he worked to secure the release of George Glezmann.
Sources confirmed this was the first direct meeting between a U.S. administration and the terrorist-run government since the collapse of Kabul in 2021.
A report by AP later said that the Taliban were allegedly interested in normalizing ties with the U.S. after experiencing a virtual geopolitical blackout in international diplomacy over its immense human rights abuses. --->READ MORE HERE
| AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein |
President Donald Trump says the US wants to reclaim an abandoned airbase in Afghanistan, an installation near China's nuclear capabilities.
It's not the first time Trump has said that the US should reopen Bagram Air Base, which was forfeited during the US withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. He says it's necessary to counter China.
At a press conference in the UK on Thursday, Trump told reporters the US was "trying to get" Bagram back but did not elaborate on plans to do so. The base is currently under the control of the Afghan government.
Trump has heavily and repeatedly criticized former President Joe Biden for the abandonment of the strategic airbase during the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, arguing the move left its facilities as well as US assets under Taliban control. He has also claimed that the base is now under Chinese control, which the Afghan government has denied.
The Department of Defense referred Business Insider to the White House when it reached out for details on Trump's comments. The White House referred BI to the Pentagon. Nancy Youseff, a reporter for The Atlantic, reported that DoD's initial response to the president's statement on reopening the airbase was: "You mean in Afghanistan?"
For Trump, Bagram has strategic importance due to its proximity to China, specifically Chinese nuclear capabilities.
"One of the reasons we want the base is, as you know, it's an hour away from where China makes its nuclear weapons," Trump explained at the news conference Thursday. "So a lot of things are happening, but I am very disappointed in the fact that that one's not settled." This has been a long-standing issue for the president. --->READ MORE HERE
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