This is not the first time, however, that Trump has shown his interest in retaking the former US military base. In a February 2025 media briefing, now deleted from the White House’s website, Trump was quoted as saying, “We were going to keep Bagram. Four years after US forces evacuated their military bases in Afghanistan, Bagram remains a contentious piece of real estate that the Trump administration wants to retake from the Taliban. Why does Trump want the Bagram base back? Bahiss said the group “would be unwilling to accept a foreign footprint on Afghanistan, including at Bagram airbase”.