During a press conference in the United Kingdom, President Trump announced that the United States may seek to reclaim Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan – a base that was lost to America following the disastrous Biden-led troop withdrawal in 2021.
“We gave it to them for nothing – we’re trying to get it back, by the way,” President Trump said. “…We want that base back. One of the reasons we want the base is, as you know, it’s an hour away from where China makes its nuclear weapons.”
This is consistent with the president’s previous comments about Bagram’s close proximity to Chinese weapons manufacturing.
In March, President Trump noted during a cabinet meeting at the White House that Bagram would have been a key military base to obtain, due to its close proximity to China.
Per The Jerusalem Post, Trump explained, “We were going to get out, but we were going to keep Bagram, not because of Afghanistan but because of China, because it’s exactly one hour away from where China makes its nuclear missiles. We were going to keep a small force on Bagram.”
During Thursday’s press conference in the United Kingdom, President Trump slammed Joe Biden’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, noting that, preceding Biden’s leadership, the first-term Trump administration had a plan to leave the country “with strength and dignity – and we were going to keep Bagram, the big airbase [and] one of the biggest air bases in the world.”
He added, “That could be a little breaking news.”
In 2021, Joe Biden’s catastrophic withdrawal in Afghanistan resulted in the tragic loss of 13 U.S. servicemembers, and also handed billions of dollars of military equipment to the Taliban when it was left behind.
Biden’s leadership during this time drew intense criticism from many Americans, including the Gold Star families who were forced to contend with the deaths of their loved ones who perished during the withdrawal.
“The dementia-ridden piece of crap needs to be removed from office,” said Kathy McCollum, mother of fallen 20-year Marine Rylee McCollum, in 2021.
“It never would have happened under Trump,” she continued.