From retreat to return? Trump hints at US bid to reclaim Bagram air base

The United States is casting its gaze once more toward Afghanistan’s Bagram air base, with President Donald Trump declaring an intent to wrest the strategic stronghold back from Taliban hands.

Once the crown jewel of America’s military footprint in the region, Bagram was surrendered amid the chaos of withdrawal — a retreat that Trump now seeks to reverse.

Hinting at quiet negotiations with the Taliban, the president spoke of restoring American forces to the sprawling fortress, long regarded as the beating heart of US power in Central Asia. More than a mere outpost, Bagram looms large for its vantage — a stone’s throw from China’s frontier, and thus a fulcrum in the balance of great power rivalry.

Speaking alongside UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Trump teased what he called “a little breaking news,” revealing that discussions were underway to reclaim the sprawling military outpost. “We’re trying to get it back, because they need things from us,” he remarked, his words bristling with both urgency and bravado.

Trump underscored the strategic value of the base, pointing to its proximity to America’s chief rival, China. “We want that base back… One of the reasons is, as you know, it’s an hour away from where China makes its nuclear weapons,” he said, framing Bagram not just as a relic of past wars but as a potential fulcrum of future geopolitics.

Though he lambasted ex-president Joe Biden for surrendering the facility “for nothing” to the Taliban, Trump’s own administration had laid down the terms of the American withdrawal. Still, he drew a stark contrast, claiming his plan had always been to exit Afghanistan “with strength and dignity” — while firmly keeping Bagram.

Describing the base in sweeping terms, Trump called it “one of the biggest air bases in the world,” so vast and powerful that “you could land anything on it. You could land a planet.” Speaking later aboard Air Force One, he extolled the runway’s strength and length, casting Bagram as a lost crown jewel of American military might.

For now, however, clarity remains elusive on whether the United States is actively negotiating its return to the base, or whether Trump’s remarks are more aspirational than operational. Yet in his telling, Bagram is no mere patch of tarmac in a distant land — it is the stage upon which great power rivalries might once again play out.