London – September 19, 2025: U.S. President Donald Trump announced that Washington is seeking to regain control of Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, more than four years after American forces handed it over during the withdrawal.
Speaking at a joint press conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Trump said, “We’re trying to get it back, we’re trying to bring it back because they [Afghanistan] need things from us.”
The U.S. vacated Bagram, located about 40 miles north of Kabul, in August 2021, just weeks before the Taliban seized power. The base had served as the nerve center of American military operations in Afghanistan for two decades following the 9/11 attacks.
Trump linked Washington’s renewed interest in the facility to its strategic location, stressing that Bagram is roughly an hour away from key Chinese nuclear sites. “That’s one of the reasons we want it,” he said, adding that Afghanistan also relies on U.S. support in other areas.
American officials have not yet clarified what steps are being taken to reclaim the base or how such an arrangement would work under Taliban rule.
For years, Bagram Air Base symbolized the U.S. military footprint in Afghanistan, housing tens of thousands of troops at the height of the war and serving as a hub for counterterrorism operations. Its possible revival under Trump’s leadership signals a dramatic shift in U.S. policy toward the region.
