The Afghan Taliban has dismissed US President Donald Trump’s aggressive overtures for the return of Bagram Airbase, underscoring a fresh rift in US-Afghan relations just four years after the American withdrawal.
On Sunday, September 21, 2025, the Taliban government in Kabul rejected demands from US President Donald Trump to reclaim the Bagram Airbase in Parwan province, Afghanistan, emphasising national sovereignty and adherence to prior accords, as Trump cited the site’s proximity to Chinese nuclear facilities as a key rationale for his push.
This flare-up in the Trump Taliban Bagram Airbase tensions carries profound implications for South Asia, where Afghanistan’s stability underpins trade corridors like the Chabahar port route and influences security dynamics involving Pakistan, India, and Iran. Any escalation could disrupt humanitarian aid flows and exacerbate refugee pressures on neighbouring states, potentially drawing in regional powers and complicating counter-terrorism efforts across the subcontinent.
Taliban Rejects Trump Offer on Bagram
The dispute over the Trump Taliban Bagram Airbase has intensified following a series of pointed remarks from the US leader. During a White House press interaction on Saturday, September 20, 2025, Trump declared his administration’s intent to retrieve the facility, which served as the nerve centre for American operations during the two-decade conflict in Afghanistan.
In his address, Trump stated: “We’re talking now to Afghanistan and we want it back and we want it back soon, right away. And if they don’t do it, if they don’t do it, you’re going to find out what I’m gonna do.” This veiled threat came amid broader discussions on US foreign policy priorities.
Earlier that day, while hosting UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer for bilateral talks in Washington, DC, at 2:45 PM, Trump elaborated on the strategic imperative behind the demand. He remarked: “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.” The reference pointed to the Lop Nur testing site in China’s Xinjiang region, approximately 1,000 km from Bagram, highlighting perceived geopolitical advantages in the Indo-Pacific theatre.
The Bagram Airbase, situated 50 km north of Kabul, boasts an 11,800-foot runway capable of accommodating heavy bombers and cargo planes, according to US Air Force specifications. Its recapture, Trump implied, would bolster American leverage in containing Beijing’s military expansion a notion that has sparked concerns among South Asian observers about indirect militarisation of the region.
Official Taliban Response to Trump Taliban Bagram Airbase Push
In a swift rebuttal issued on Sunday, September 21, 2025, the Taliban administration invoked Afghanistan’s inviolable borders and the 2020 Doha Agreement, which facilitated the US exit. Chief spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid asserted in an official release: “Afghanistan’s independence and territorial integrity are of the utmost importance” and urged Washington to honour commitments against coercive measures. The statement continued: “Accordingly, it is once again underscored that, rather than repeating past failed approaches, a policy of realism and rationality should be adopted.”
This stance aligns with broader Afghan governmental positions. Foreign Ministry official Zakir Jalaly echoed the sentiment, declaring: “Afghans have never accepted foreign military presence in their land throughout history”, while advocating for “economic and political relations based on bilateral respect and common interests.” Similarly, a senior figure in the Ministry of Defence, Fasihuddin Fitrat, was unequivocal: “A deal over even an inch of Afghanistan’s soil is not possible. We don’t need it.”
These responses, corroborated across multiple outlets, mark a firm Taliban rejects Trump offer Bagram position, framing the overture as a breach of post-withdrawal norms established in 2021, when US forces vacated the site amid the collapse of the prior Kabul regime.
Background of US-Afghan Relations
The Trump Taliban Bagram Airbase saga traces its roots to the Cold War era. Constructed by the Soviet Union in the early 1950s as a bulwark against regional threats, Bagram evolved into a pivotal hub during Moscow’s 1979-1989 occupation. The US inherited and expanded it post-2001, transforming the parched expanse into a self-contained enclave with amenities for thousands of troops, all while detaining suspects in its notorious prison blocks where reports of indefinite holds and mistreatment surfaced during the “war on terror”.
By August 2021, as the Biden administration orchestrated the final pullout, Bagram fell under Taliban control without a fight, symbolising the insurgents’ triumph. Trump’s renewed interest, voiced sporadically since his 2024 re-election, revives echoes of his administration’s Doha negotiations, yet now pivots on countering China rather than solely combating militancy.
In South Asia, the airbase’s legacy looms large: it once facilitated logistics for Pakistani supply lines and Indian aid missions. Today’s Trump Taliban Bagram Airbase wrangle risks upending these balances, with Islamabad wary of heightened US footprints near its borders and New Delhi eyeing opportunities in Afghan reconstruction sans military strings.
What’s Next for Trump Taliban Bagram Airbase Dynamics
As diplomatic channels strain under the weight of these exchanges, observers anticipate heightened UN-mediated dialogues in the coming weeks. The Taliban’s invocation of Doha underscores a preference for non-confrontational ties, potentially opening avenues for economic pacts over territorial concessions. Yet, Trump’s rhetoric signals no immediate retreat, leaving the Trump Taliban Bagram Airbase impasse as a litmus test for US engagement in a multipolar Asia.
In the broader canvas of South Asian geopolitics, this episode may prompt accelerated trilateral talks involving Kabul, Washington, and Beijing, lest the Trump Taliban Bagram Airbase friction spill into proxy frictions elsewhere. Ultimately, the Taliban’s steadfast rejection could redefine post-2021 paradigms, prioritising sovereignty in an era of great-power jostling.
Published in SouthAsianDesk, September 22nd, 2025
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