President Donald Trump said Thursday he is seeking to reclaim control of Afghanistan’s Bagram Airfield, calling it “little breaking news” and linking the move to U.S. leverage over China.
“We gave it to them for nothing,” Trump said, repeating a campaign message on the Biden-era unconditional withdrawal from Afghanistan, during a joint news conference with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
“We’re trying to get it back, by the way. O.K., that could be a little breaking news. We’re trying to get it back because they need things from us.
“We want that base back. But one of the reasons we want the base is, as you know, it’s an hour away from where China makes its nuclear weapons.
“So a lot of things are happening.”
Trump, leading into the “breaking news,” lamented Vladimir Putin invading Ukraine because of former President Joe Biden’s weakness in pulling out of Afghanistan.
“I spoke to President Putin about Ukraine,” Trump said. “It was the apple of his eye. I’ve said that many times. It was, but he would have never done what he did, except that he didn’t respect the leadership of the United States.
“They just went through the Afghanistan – total disaster for no reason whatsoever. We were going to leave Afghanistan, but we’re going to leave it with strength and dignity, and we’re going to keep Bagram, the big airbase that one of the biggest air bases in the world.”
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