Trump hints US troops may return Afghanistan base.
During a joint press conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, former US President Donald Trump suggested the possibility of American troops returning to a base in Afghanistan, raising speculation about renewed military presence as he concluded his UK state visit.
Washington: Former U.S. President Donald Trump suggested on Thursday that he is working on plans to reestablish an American presence at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. His comments come four years after the United States’ chaotic withdrawal from the country, which saw the once-strategic base fall into the hands of the Taliban.
Trump floated the possibility during a joint press conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in London, as he concluded a state visit to the United Kingdom. He linked the potential move to Washington’s broader strategy to counter its top global rival, China.
“We’re trying to get it back,” Trump remarked in an aside, responding to a question about how the U.S. might bring an end to Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
The remarks reignited debate over the legacy of America’s longest war. During his first term, Trump set the framework for U.S. withdrawal by striking a deal with the Taliban in 2020. But the final exit played out under President Joe Biden, who oversaw a dramatic collapse of the U.S.-backed Afghan government in August 2021. That period was marked by chaos: a devastating bombing outside Kabul airport killed 13 U.S. service members and 170 civilians, while thousands of desperate Afghans crowded the tarmac in a last-ditch effort to flee. The final American aircraft lifted off over the Hindu Kush, closing the book on a 20-year conflict in a deeply unsettling way.
Speaking on Thursday, Trump criticized Biden’s handling of the withdrawal. We were going to keep Bagram Air Base — one of the biggest air bases in the world. We gave it to them for nothing.”
Asked later aboard Air Force One if he had more details about reclaiming Bagram, Trump stopped short of offering specifics. Instead, he doubled down on his criticism of Biden, calling the decision to abandon the base “gross incompetence” and insisting that it “never should have been given back.”
Trump’s comments came just days after the Taliban announced that they had reached an agreement with U.S. envoys over a prisoner exchange, a move framed as part of ongoing efforts to normalize relations between Washington and Kabul. The Taliban shared no specifics about the detainee swap, though they did release photographs of their foreign minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, meeting with Trump’s special envoy for hostage response, Adam Boehler. The White House declined to comment on the talks or the outcome described in the Taliban’s statement.
Officials at U.S. Central Command and the Pentagon — including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s office — referred questions about the possibility of reestablishing a presence at Bagram back to the White House, leaving the proposal hanging in uncertainty.
Trump’s idea, still vague, nevertheless signals his continuing focus on Afghanistan as a symbol of both American power and failure — and suggests that the story of Bagram Air Base is far from over.