Trump wants Bagram back, but Taliban and China push back on US return to Afghanistan

Beijing warns against ‘stirring confrontation’ as Kabul rejects foreign troops

US President Donald Trump has ignited a fresh storm by declaring that Washington is in talks to regain control of Afghanistan’s Bagram airbase, four years after it was abandoned during America’s chaotic 2021 withdrawal.

“We should have never given it up,” Trump said on Friday from the Oval Office. Speaking a day earlier in London alongside British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, he stressed on the strategic importance of the facility. “One of the biggest airbases in the world. We gave it to them for nothing. We’re trying to get it back because they need things from us. We want that base back. It’s an hour away from where China makes its nuclear weapons.”

Taliban draws a red line 

The response from Kabul was swift and firm. Zakir Jalal, an official in the Taliban’s foreign ministry, posted on X that Afghanistan 'completely rejects' the idea of a revived US military presence.

“Military presence has never been accepted by Afghans in history, and this possibility was completely rejected during the Doha talks and agreement,” Jalal said, while leaving the door open for economic and political engagement. “Afghanistan and the United States need to engage with one another … without America having military presence in any part of Afghanistan.”

China joins in with a warning

Beijing, which has cultivated close ties with the Taliban since 2021, also pushed back. Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told reporters as per a report by PTI, saying: “Stirring up tension and confrontation in the region will not be supported. China respects Afghanistan’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity... Afghanistan’s future should rest in the hands of the Afghan people.”

China has backed up words with investment, reviving a copper mine project and oil extraction deals in Afghanistan, positioning itself as one of the few major economies willing to work openly with Kabul’s new rulers.

What Washington is negotiating

The Wall Street Journal reported that negotiations are being led by Adam Boehler, the US special envoy for hostage response. According to the paper, the talks involve three moving parts:

a small US presence at Bagram for counterterrorism operations,
a potential prisoner exchange, and
a possible economic package.

The plan, if it materialises, would mark a dramatic reversal of the Biden-era pullout that handed Bagram, and billions in military assets, to the Taliban.

A domestic political weapon

Trump has repeatedly used Afghanistan as a cudgel against Joe Biden, accusing him of abandoning vital US assets. Reclaiming Bagram would serve both as a strategic shift and a political symbol, reinforcing Trump’s argument that Biden “gave it away for nothing.”

With Trump tying Bagram to China’s nuclear proximity, the debate is no longer just about Afghanistan, it’s about Washington’s wider rivalry with Beijing.

Why Bagram matters

Bagram is more than just a former base:

It was the main US hub during the war on terror after 9/11.
Its infrastructure supports large aircraft and heavy military operations.
Its location, less than 500 km from western China, gives Washington a rare vantage point in Asia.

For the Taliban, letting the Americans back in risks undermining the very sovereignty they fought for. For China, it risks dragging Afghanistan into great power competition. And for Trump, it’s a test case of whether he can rewrite the post-2021 map.