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President Donald Trump said Thursday he is working to regain American possession of Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan.
During Trump’s final stop on his state visit to the United Kingdom, he and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer held a joint press conference at the Chequers Estate. Trump discussed his initiative to reclaim the air base that the U.S. lost to the Taliban following the Biden administration’s flawed withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Trump stated, “We’re attempting to retrieve it, okay? This might be some breaking news. We’re working on getting it back because they need things from us. We want that base returned.”
He further explained, “One reason we want the base is that it is merely an hour away from China’s nuclear weapons facilities. So, many developments are taking place.”
In July 2021, in anticipation of the chaotic U.S. military withdrawal, the Biden administration transitioned control of Bagram to the Afghan government. This base was under U.S. occupation for close to 20 years during the Afghanistan War, until U.S. forces made an unexpected nighttime withdrawal, unbeknownst to Afghan military leaders, leading to looting of the base.
These remarks by Trump followed a recent meeting over the weekend where a White House delegation, headed by Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs Adam Boehler, engaged with senior Taliban leaders. Afghan media reported that the Taliban expressed an interest in establishing normalized relations.
Zakir Jalali, identified by Afghanistan’s Tolo News as a “third political director” in the Taliban’s Foreign Ministry, stated on Sunday, “Post the American forces’ departure from Afghanistan, there are no significant bilateral obstacles that cannot be overcome.”
“The fact that the U.S. delegation has opened its doors to Kabul marks a new and more serious phase in continuing negotiations,” Jalali said per the outlets.
Longtime American representative for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad accompanied Boehler on the trip. The American delegation focused on negotiating the release of Americans who are stuck under the rule of jihadists, per multiple reports.
