President Donald Trump revealed on Thursday that the U.S. was trying to retake control of Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan.
The president made the comments during a press conference alongside British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer while criticizing the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan under President Joe Biden in 2021.
The president said the U.S. was going to leave Afghanistan but keep Bagram.
“We gave it to them for nothing,” Trump said. “We’re trying to get it back by the way.”
“We’re trying to get it back because they need things from us. We want that base back,” the president added.
The president provided no details on how the U.S. was approaching any kind of deal and with whom exactly. He also did not mention the Taliban, which is now in control of Afghanistan, by name.
Trump did say, however, that one reason America wanted the base back was “it’s an hour away from where China makes its nuclear weapons.”
The White House referred Daily Beast to the Pentagon. A spokesperson did not address Daily Beast’s questions but provided a statement.
“The Department of War is a planning organization and routinely reviews how the Department would respond to a variety of contingencies across the globe. We are always ready to execute any mission at the President’s direction,” said Sean Parnell, chief Pentagon spokesperson.
Bagram was previously the largest U.S. military base in Afghanistan. It fell to the Taliban during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan under President Joe Biden in August 2021 after nearly 20 years.
Trump has often attacked his predecessor for how the U.S. exit was handled. The retreat from Afghanistan began under Trump in 2020 but wrapped up under Biden in August 2021.
Last week, the Taliban said they had discussed normalizing relations between Afghanistan and the U.S. in a meeting with Trump officials, according to the Associated Press.
The White House did not release a statement. Still, the Taliban said that its foreign minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, met with Trump’s special envoy for hostage response, Adam Boehler, and the exchange of prisoners was discussed as part of an effort to normalize relations.
