Trump Seeks to Reclaim Bagram Air Base, Citing Biden’s Failed Afghanistan Withdrawal

In a bold and unexpected move, President Donald Trump announced Thursday that the United States is actively seeking to reclaim control of Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan a strategic asset that the Biden administration abandoned to the Taliban during the catastrophic 2021 withdrawal.

Speaking during a joint press conference in the United Kingdom with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Trump didn’t hold back.

“We gave it to [the Taliban] for nothing,” Trump said. “We’re trying to get it back, by the way. That could be a little breaking news. We’re trying to get it back because they need things from us. We want that base back.”

He emphasized Bagram’s strategic importance, pointing out that the air base lies just an hour from China’s nuclear weapons facilities in Xinjiang, making it one of the most valuable U.S. military footholds in Central Asia.

Trump has long criticized Joe Biden’s chaotic and humiliating withdrawal from Afghanistan, which saw the Taliban overrun the country within days, culminating in the death of 13 American service members and the abandonment of billions of dollars in U.S. military equipment.

• The Taliban seized Bagram Air Base just days after U.S. forces vacated in July 2021.

• The base housed thousands of terrorist detainees, many of whom were reportedly released shortly after the takeover.

• U.S. intelligence has since confirmed that some of those released rejoined terrorist networks in the region.

Trump reminded the press that under his leadership, the U.S. had a conditions-based withdrawal plan and intended to retain Bagram even after drawing down troops.

“We were going to leave with dignity. We had everything in place,” Trump said. “We weren’t going to give away the most important base in the region to terrorists.”

While Trump didn’t outline the exact mechanics of how the U.S. plans to retake Bagram, he did hint that negotiations or pressure might be leveraged on the Taliban, who now control Afghanistan’s government but remain internationally isolated and heavily sanctioned.

“They need things from us,” Trump noted strongly suggesting that a strategic deal may be in the works to reverse Biden’s blunder.

Reclaiming Bagram would be a massive reversal and a symbolic correction to one of the worst military failures in recent American history. It would also reassert U.S. influence in a region where China has aggressively expanded its presence, especially near its own western nuclear research zones.

The Biden administration’s hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan left more than 100,000 Afghan allies stranded, gave the Taliban a propaganda victory, and damaged U.S. credibility with allies around the world. Even Democrat-aligned media outlets have since admitted the execution of the withdrawal was a colossal failure.

Meanwhile, Biden has refused to take accountability and brushed off Bagram as “not necessary” a view sharply contradicted by military experts who call it a “crown jewel” of U.S. presence in the region.

Now, Trump is seeking to correct that mistake and once again prove that America leads from strength, not surrender.

“The most embarrassing moment in our country’s history,” Trump recently said of the Afghanistan withdrawal. “And now we’re fixing it.”

If Trump succeeds in reclaiming Bagram, it won’t just be a strategic win it will be a defining moment in the restoration of American strength on the global stage.

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