"United States President Donald Trump has demanded that Afghanistan's ruling Taliban hand the country's Bagram airbase over to Washington, five years after he signed a deal with the group that paved the way for the US withdrawal from Kabul. At a news conference with United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer on September 18, Trump told reporters that the US government was trying to get [Bagram] back. We gave it to [the Taliban] for nothing. We want that base back, he said."
"The Taliban has rejected Trump's demand. This is not the first time, however, that Trump has shown his interest in retaking the former US military base. In a February 2025 media briefing, now deleted from the White House's website, Trump was quoted as saying, We were going to keep Bagram. We were going to keep a small force on Bagram."
Donald Trump has demanded that the Taliban return Bagram Airbase to the United States, calling the handover unjust and threatening consequences. The demand follows earlier statements that Washington intended to retain a presence at Bagram after withdrawal. Bagram sits about 50 km outside Kabul and has two concrete runways (3.6 km and 3 km). The airfield was developed by the Soviet Union in the 1950s and has served as a strategic stronghold for successive powers. Control of Bagram would give the United States a regional power-projection site near Kabul and closer to China's growing influence. Retaking the base faces political and practical resistance from the Taliban.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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