President Donald Trump has said he hopes to see Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan returned to U.S. control, suggesting a renewed American presence in the country now again ruled by the Taliban.
"We're trying to get it back," Trump said of Bagram during a news conference Thursday alongside British Prime Minister Keir Starmer that capped a whirlwind state visit to the United Kingdom.
Taking aim at the Biden administration's fraught withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan as a "total disaster," Trump criticized the decision to relinquish Bagram Airfield, which quickly fell under the control of the Taliban as they swept back into power in 2021.
"We gave it to them for nothing," said Trump, who has long criticized the Biden administration's handling of the withdrawal from Afghanistan. "We want that base back," he said.
About an hour's drive north of Afghanistan's capital, Kabul, Bagram served for years as a crucial hub in the war against the Taliban and Al Qaeda. At its peak around 2012, the sprawling airfield saw more than 100,000 U.S. troops pass through its compound.
Late Thursday, Zakir Jalaly, an official at the Afghan Foreign Ministry, dismissed the idea of Bagram returning to the U.S.
"Afghanistan and the U.S. need to interact with each other and can have economic and political relations based on mutual respect and common interests," Jalaly said on the social platform X. "The Afghans have not accepted a military presence in history, and this possibility was completely rejected during the Doha talks and agreement, but the door is open for further interaction."
Trump made clear at least one motivating factor for his interest in reclaiming Bagram, noting its proximity to rival superpower China.
"It's an hour away from where China makes its nuclear weapons," Trump said during his comments Thursday, which came a day before he was spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping amid ongoing trade negotiations.
Addressing journalists later on Air Force One, Trump said Bagram was "one of the most powerful bases in the world in terms of runway strength and length," adding: "You could land anything there." He emphasized again that the base was "an hour away from where they make their missiles -- China."
Addressing Trump's comments Friday, Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said that China "respects Afghanistan's independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity."
"Afghanistan's future should be decided by its own people," Lin said, adding: "Stirring up tension and creating confrontation in the region won't be popular."
China, which has made strides in rapidly expanding its nuclear stockpile, is estimated to have accumulated about 600 warheads, according to the Chicago-based nonprofit Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
Of course, greater surveillance on China wouldn't be the only advantage to regaining Bagram.
A presence at the base could also aid in regional counterterrorism efforts, among other factors that could appeal to Trump.
It remains unclear to what extent, if any, the U.S. has been in talks with the Taliban on the future of Bagram.
"Even if the Taliban considered this, China most certainly would do everything it can to entice the Taliban to keep the U.S. out of Afghanistan and has far more leverage and enticements to make this happen," Bill Roggio, editor of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies' Long War Journal, cautioned in comments shared online Thursday.
"The Trump administration should be very careful not to grant the Taliban concessions only to be prevented access to Bagram in the end," he said.
The Taliban have been working to rehabilitate their global standing, with the militant group freeing American George Glezmann, a Delta Air Lines mechanic, in March amid efforts to normalize relations between Afghanistan and the U.S.
On Friday, the Taliban also released British couple Barbie Reynolds, 76, and her husband, Peter Reynolds, 80, who were detained by the Interior Ministry in February, according to Sky News, NBC News' sister outlet in the United Kingdom.
Trump's comments came as the Pentagon continues to push ahead with a review into the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, during which 13 U.S. service members and 170 Afghans were killed at Kabul's airport in a bombing by the Islamic State terrorist group.
Trump, who began the process for the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan during his first term, has been a fierce critic of the Biden administration's handling of the drawdown.
The White House under President Joe Biden largely blamed the Trump administration for the chaotic withdrawal, with a National Security Council report released in 2023 arguing that Biden's options for executing the operation were "severely constrained by conditions created by his predecessor."