Trump admin has been quietly pushing to retake Afghan base from the Taliban for months, sources say [View all]

Source: CNN Politics

PUBLISHED Sep 18, 2025, 12:42 PM ET


President Donald Trump has been quietly pushing his national security officials for months to find a way to get Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan back from the Taliban, three people familiar with the matter told CNN. Trump hinted at those discussions publicly for the first time on Thursday, telling reporters that his administration is working to regain control of the base, which lies an hour north of Kabul.

The Taliban took it over following the collapse of the Afghan government and the US military withdrawal in 2021. “We gave it to (the Taliban) for nothing,” Trump said during a joint press conference with UK Prime Minister Kier Starmer on Thursday. “We’re trying to get it back, by the way.”

The sources told CNN that the conversations about returning the base to US control date back at least to March. Trump and his senior national security officials believe the base is needed for several reasons, including to surveil China, whose border is under 500 miles away; gain access to rare earth elements and mining in Afghanistan; establish a counterterrorism node to target ISIS; and possibly reopen a diplomatic facility, the sources said.

But all of those objectives would require a US military presence, one of the sources said. And a deal that Trump stuck with the Taliban in 2020, during his first term, mandated a full withdrawal of US troops from the country.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/18/politics/trump-bagram-base-taliban-afghanistan