Trump Warns Taliban: “If Bagram Is Not Returned, Bad Things Will Happen”

DID Press: US President Donald Trump has once again stressed the need for Washington to retake Bagram Air Base, issuing a stark warning that if Taliban refused to hand it over, they would face serious consequences.

“If Afghanistan does not return Bagram Air Base to those who built it — the United States of America — bad things will happen,” Trump posted on his social media platform, Truth Social.

“We are speaking with Afghanistan right now. We want it back, and we want it back quickly — immediately. And if they don’t do that, you will see what I will do,” he added.

The latest warning follows a series of recent statements in which Trump has underlined the strategic importance of Bagram.

During a visit to the United Kingdom last Thursday, he argued that the base is critical to U.S. national security, noting that it lies just an hour’s flight from areas where China is producing nuclear weapons.

Bagram Air Base, seized by Taliban in 2021 after US forces withdrawal, is Afghanistan’s largest military installation. At the height of the U.S. presence, the base hosted around 100,000 American troops and played a central role in NATO operations.

While Trump has insisted that Bagram was “built by the United States,” historical records show that the facility was originally constructed by the Soviet Union in the 1950s and served as a key base for the Red Army during the Soviet-Afghan war.

Analysts warn that any U.S. attempt to retake Bagram would require the deployment of thousands of troops and billions of dollars in resources, potentially sparking fresh tensions in Afghanistan and across the wider region.