Taliban officials late on Thursday rejected a suggestion by President Donald Trump that the US might regain control of the last base it abandoned during its withdrawal from Afghanistan, but they left open the possibility of talks to improve ties between the two countries.

During a news conference on Thursday with Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain, Trump said that his administration had been working to reclaim the facility, the Bagram Air Base outside Kabul, which US forces abandoned in 2021 shortly before the Taliban retook control of Afghanistan.

“We’re trying to get it back because they need things from us,” Trump said.

He added that Bagram was strategically important for the US because “it’s an hour away from where China makes its nuclear weapons”.

Trump has said in the past that the US should not have abandoned the air base,
but his comments on Thursday were the first public acknowledgment that negotiations to reclaim it might be underway.

The Taliban government was quick to respond, suggesting that it was open to
conversation but not the return of US security personnel.

“Without the US having any military presence in Afghanistan, both Afghanistan and the US need to engage with each other, and they can have political and economic relations based on mutual respect and shared interests,” Zakir Jalaly, an Afghan foreign ministry official, said on social media.

“Afghans have never accepted the military presence of anyone throughout history,” Jalaly added. “But for other kinds of engagement, all paths remain open for them.” He called Trump “a good businessman and negotiator, more than just a politician”.

Other officials were less diplomatic. Muhajer Farahi, a deputy minister, posted part of a poem on X: “Those who once smashed their heads against the rocks with us, their minds have still not found peace.” He ended his post with “Bagram, Afghanistan”.

Trump said in March that the US should have stayed at Bagram “not because of Afghanistan but because of China, because it’s exactly one hour away from where China makes its nuclear missiles”. At the time, he claimed that
Bagram was “now under China’s influence”, which the Taliban denied.

During its withdrawal from Afghanistan, the US left behind thousands of weapons and other pieces of military equipment and a sprawling embassy compound that sits vacant in the centre of Kabul.

China weighs in

China on Friday said the decision to re-establish US presence at the Bagram Air Base should be left to Afghanistan and its people, while responding to Trump’s remarks that Washington is trying to get back the strategic facility for its close proximity to China.

“China respects Afghanistan’s territorial integrity and sovereignty,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told a media briefing here while responding to a question on Trump’s comments.

“The future of Afghanistan should be in the hands of Afghan people,” Lin said.

New York Times News Service and PTI