Trump’s push for Afghanistan’s Bagram Airbase: A desperate bid to contain China and reassert U.S. hegemony

Department of Strategic Research, Studies and International Relations 29-09-2025

U.S. President Donald Trump has revived Washington’s ambitions in Afghanistan by demanding the return of the Bagram airbase, a military installation abandoned during the 2021 withdrawal. The Taliban, which has maintained control of the site since the U.S. retreat, has firmly rejected the request, raising new tensions as Washington eyes the base’s proximity to China.

Speaking alongside British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on September 18, Trump lamented the loss of Bagram, declaring, “We gave it to them for nothing. We want that base back.” He later issued a threat on his Truth Social platform: “If Afghanistan doesn’t give Bagram Airbase back … BAD THINGS ARE GOING TO HAPPEN!!!”

The legacy of Bagram

Situated 50 kilometers north of Kabul, Bagram has long been at the center of foreign occupations in Afghanistan. Built by the Soviet Union in the 1950s, the base symbolized Moscow’s presence until the 1979 invasion, when it became a hub for Soviet forces. Following the Soviet withdrawal, Bagram passed through the hands of the Northern Alliance before falling to the Taliban.

After the U.S.-led invasion in 2001, Washington transformed Bagram into its largest military outpost in Afghanistan. At its height in 2009, it housed nearly 10,000 personnel, alongside NATO allies. It was more than just a base: it became a command center for air raids, a site of notorious detention facilities where Afghans endured torture, and a symbol of America’s occupation.

When U.S. forces staged their chaotic withdrawal in August 2021, they destroyed equipment but left behind billions of dollars’ worth of weapons. Local groups looted what remained before the Taliban secured full control.

Why Washington wants it back

Although Trump frequently complains about abandoned U.S. weaponry, analysts agree that the real issue is not lost equipment but geopolitics. Bagram offers a rare strategic air hub in Afghanistan’s rugged terrain and sits just 800 kilometers from China’s western border. For a U.S. establishment increasingly obsessed with countering China, this is the prize.

Trump himself emphasized that the base lies “an hour away from where China makes its nuclear weapons,” a claim Beijing swiftly dismissed. China’s Foreign Ministry responded firmly, stressing that Afghanistan’s future must be determined by Afghans themselves, and warned against foreign powers stirring confrontation.

The obsession with Bagram also reflects Washington’s unease at China’s growing role in Central Asia. Beijing has steadily expanded cooperation with Kabul, while Russia and regional powers have emphasized stability and non-interference. Against this backdrop, U.S. demands for Bagram look less like strategy and more like desperation to regain a foothold in the heart of Eurasia.

Taliban’s response and regional dynamics

For the Taliban, ceding Bagram back to the Americans is unthinkable. The movement’s identity has long been rooted in expelling foreign forces. Analysts note that even entertaining U.S. demands would shatter their legitimacy and risk internal fractures.

On September 21, Taliban spokesperson Hamdullah Fitrat reminded Washington of its commitments under the 2020 Doha Agreement, which pledged that the U.S. would not threaten Afghanistan’s sovereignty. Trump’s threats of “bad things” were dismissed as a violation of that accord.

Experts argue that the Taliban, far from yielding, may instead see Washington’s pressure as leverage. The U.S. could be using the Bagram issue as a bargaining chip, demanding something impossible, then settling for symbolic concessions such as limited equipment recovery or negotiations over minerals. But for now, Kabul shows no interest in reversing the sovereignty it regained in 2021.

Can the U.S. really return?

Even Western analysts question the feasibility of a U.S. return to Bagram. Redeployment would require immense logistical and political maneuvering, not to mention the backlash from Afghans who endured two decades of occupation.

Moreover, regional powers are unlikely to welcome a revived U.S. military footprint. Russia and China, both sharing historical ties with Afghanistan, view stability through cooperation rather than endless intervention. India, too, has invested in Afghan development projects and is wary of Washington’s destabilizing tactics.

Ultimately, Trump’s insistence on reclaiming Bagram exposes Washington’s declining influence. What once was a cornerstone of U.S. dominance is now out of reach, controlled by a government unwilling to bow, and surrounded by regional powers unwilling to allow another cycle of occupation.

Conclusion

Bagram airbase is more than a strip of land with runways, it is a symbol of America’s failed war in Afghanistan and its fading global reach. Trump’s threats to Kabul highlight Washington’s desperation to reassert military control in a region where the balance of power has shifted toward China, Russia, and other Asian actors.

For Afghanistan and its neighbors, the message is clear: the era of U.S. bases dictating regional security is over.