Trump Threatens Afghanistan With Unspecified Punishment If Bagram Airbase Not Returned

US President Donald Trump warned Afghanistan of unspecified punishment if the Taliban-controlled country does not “give Bagram Airbase back.”

“If Afghanistan doesn’t give Bagram Airbase back to those that built it, the United States of America, BAD THINGS ARE GOING TO HAPPEN!!!” the 79-year-old leader wrote on his Truth Social platform.

The vague threat came days after Trump publicly raised the idea of the United States retaking control of the base while on a state visit to the United Kingdom. “We’re trying to get it back, by the way, that could be a little breaking news. We’re trying to get it back because they need things from us,” he said at a press conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Bagram, the largest air base in Afghanistan, was a linchpin of the US-led war effort against the Taliban after the September 11, 2001 attacks. The sprawling facility has been the subject of repeated allegations by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and others of systematic human rights abuses by US forces, particularly concerning detainees held during Washington’s “War on Terror.”

US and NATO troops pulled out of Bagram in July 2021 as part of a Trump-brokered peace deal, a withdrawal followed by the Taliban’s rapid territorial gains and eventual takeover of the country. Trump has frequently lamented the loss of the base—noting its proximity to China—and has criticized the withdrawal under his predecessor, Joe Biden.

Asked by reporters at the White House on Saturday whether he was considering sending US troops to retake Bagram, Trump replied: “We won’t talk about that, but we’re talking now to Afghanistan, and we want it back and we want it back soon, right away. And if they don’t do it, you’re going to find out what I’m going to do.”

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