President Donald Trump on Friday again pressed his call to reclaim Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, saying his administration is in talks with the Taliban to return control of the facility to the United States.
“We’ll see what happens with Bagram,” Trump said at a White House news conference when asked about the base. “We’re talking to Afghanistan.”
Trump repeated his criticism of President Biden’s handling of the 2021 U.S. withdrawal, calling it “the most embarrassing day in the history of our country.” He argued that there had been “no reason” to abandon Bagram, once the largest American military installation in Afghanistan.
“I was leaving Afghanistan. I was the one that got it down to 5,000 soldiers, but were going to keep Bagram,” Trump said. “It’s one of the most powerful air bases ever built… We just gave it up for nothing.”
Trump also accused Biden of incompetence during the withdrawal and of issuing what he described as “illegal pardons” to officials involved in the process. He said he had proposed deploying 10,000 National Guard troops or soldiers to secure the base but claimed then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Washington, D.C.’s mayor blocked the idea.
Bagram Air Base, about an hour north of Kabul, served as the hub of U.S. military operations in Afghanistan for nearly two decades before it was abandoned during the chaotic evacuation in 2021. The Taliban seized the base shortly after U.S. forces left.
Trump has argued that the facility’s proximity to China — which he called America’s “near-peer threat” — makes its recovery strategically vital.
