US President Donald Trump on Saturday threatened Afghanistan if the Bagram Air Base was not returned to the US.
“If Afghanistan doesn’t give Bagram Airbase back to those that built it, the United States of America, BAD THINGS ARE GOING TO HAPPEN!!!” he wrote in a post to Truth Social.
The president did not elaborate on the potential consequences for the country.
On Thursday, the president stated that the administration is “trying” to reclaim the former US Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan “from the Taliban”.
In remarks to the press while standing alongside UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, the president criticised former president Joe Biden’s handling of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan and announced “a little breaking news”.
“We’re trying to get it back,” Trump said. “We’re trying to get it back because they need things from us.”
Trump did not elaborate on who he was referring to, or what the Taliban “need” from the United States. “We want that base back, but one of the reasons we want the base is, as you know, it’s an hour away from where China makes its nuclear weapons,” Trump said.
On Saturday evening, Trump told reporters that the administration wants Bagram back “right away,” and “if they don’t do it, you’re going to find out what I’m going to do.”
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.
Kabul said it was not open to any such deal, however.
“Afghanistan and the United States need to engage with one another … without the United States maintaining any military presence in any part of Afghanistan,” Zakir Jalal, an Afghan foreign ministry official, posted on X.
The two nations could establish economic and political ties on the basis of mutual respect and shared interests, he added.
China respects Afghanistan’s independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity, a spokesperson of its foreign ministry said, urging all parties to play a constructive role for regional peace and stability.
“The future and destiny of Afghanistan should be held in the hands of the Afghan people,” Lin Jian told a regular press conference on Friday, when asked about Trump’s comments.
I want to stress that stoking tensions and creating confrontation in the region wins no popular support.”
Engaging with Kabul to free citizens wrongly detained abroad, U.S. officials held talks on Saturday with Afghan authorities regarding Americans held in Afghanistan.
Adam Boehler, the Trump administration’s special hostage envoy, and Zalmay Khalilzad, a former U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan, met the Taliban’s foreign minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi.
Washington does not recognise the Taliban administration, which seized power in 2021 after 20 years of U.S. military intervention in Afghanistan.
