Trump says US seeks control of Afghanistan's Bagram air base

The United States seeks to regain control of Bagram air base in Afghanistan, President Donald Trump said on Thursday during a press conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, but an Afghan official dismissed the need for any U.S. presence, Reuters reports.

The historic Soviet-built airstrip was the main base for American forces in the mountainous South Asian nation following the attacks of September 11, 2001, until their 2021 withdrawal led to a takeover by the Islamist Taliban movement.

"We're trying to get it back," Trump said of Bagram, citing what he called its strategic location near China. "We want that base back."

“By the way — that could be a little breaking news,” Trump said on September 18 during a joint news conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in London.

The Afghanistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) has responded to recent remarks by US President Donald Trump regarding the potential retaking of Bagram Airbase, stating that Afghans have historically never accepted foreign military presence.

In response, Zakir Jalali, a senior official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, wrote in a post: “Afghans have never accepted military presence throughout history, and this possibility was completely ruled out during the Doha negotiations and agreement. However, the doors for further engagement remain open.”

He added that Afghanistan and the United States should engage with each other and can maintain economic and political relations based on mutual respect and shared interests — without any U.S. military presence in any part of Afghanistan.

For the US, Bagram can be an ideal intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance hub to monitor South, Central, and West Asia. It would enable regional counter terrorism operations, maintain an airlift and refueling node for rapid regional response, and provide a forward platform to monitor activities in the area, Indo-Asian News Service notes.

For the US, to reclaim the Bagram airfield would involve astute diplomacy and leverage; it may not purely be a kinetic re-entry.

Though Beijing has been quietly following the developments, Chinese and Hong Kong English-language media coverage framed Trump’s remarks as geopolitically sensitive.

Analysts quoted in regional reporting warned that Beijing would view any renewed US military presence in Afghanistan as destabilising for regional security and a potential escalation in US-China rivalry.

The move would also involve spending several billion dollars on large-scale military commitment, heavy defensive and sustainment requirements, repairing, refurbishing, and then continuously resupplying a large, isolated air base in a landlocked country.

Additionally, it would be a costly logistical process and demand long-term force protection and sustainment capabilities.

Even after occupation, the base would need continuous clearing and defense of a massive perimeter to prevent rocket, mortar, and infiltration attacks from insurgents and hostile militant groups.

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