Trump: ‘Bad things are going to happen’ if Taliban doesn’t return Afghanistan’s Bagram Air Base

President Trump warned over the weekend that “bad things are going to happen” if the Taliban doesn’t give up control of Bagram Air Base, doubling down on his unexpected call for U.S. forces to return to Afghanistan after the American withdrawal four years ago.

In a Truth Social post, Mr. Trump offered no details about that threat or whether he was specifically referring to the possibility of American military action against the Taliban, Afghanistan’s ruling government that has already rejected the idea of a U.S. return to the country.

In his trademark all-caps style, the president warned of repercussions if the Taliban doesn’t change its position.

“If Afghanistan doesn’t give Bagram Airbase back to those that built it, the United States of America, BAD THINGS ARE GOING TO HAPPEN!!!” Mr. Trump posted Saturday.

Mr. Trump last week raised the notion of returning U.S. troops to Afghanistan. He said the move could be needed to combat Chinese aggression in the region.

Mr. Trump, whose first administration negotiated the initial diplomatic deal with the Taliban that led to the U.S. withdrawal in 2021, stressed that his plan to leave Afghanistan after nearly two decades of war would have seen America keep control of Bagram.

“We were going to leave Afghanistan, but we were going to leave it with strength and dignity, and we were going to keep Bagram, the big air base — one of the biggest air bases in the world,” Mr. Trump said during a joint news conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday. “We’re trying to get it back, by the way.”

“One of the reasons we want the base is, as you know, it’s an hour away from where China makes its nuclear weapons,” Mr. Trump said.

The president also said America has leverage over the Taliban that could force them to transfer the base back to the U.S. The Taliban has struggled with an economic crisis, international legitimacy and rival militant groups.

Zakir Jalaly, an Afghan Foreign Ministry official, rejected the idea just hours after Mr. Trump raised it.

“Donald Trump has mentioned the issue of a deal regarding Bagram. He is a successful businessman and dealmaker beyond politics, and he also refers to the retrieval of Bagram through a deal,” Mr. Jalaly posted on X.

“Afghanistan and America need to engage with each other and can have economic and political relations based on mutual respect and common benefits, without America having military presence in any part of Afghanistan,” he said.

Bagram, a large airfield roughly an hour’s drive north of Kabul, was a crucial U.S. military facility throughout the Afghanistan war. The sprawling facility hosted tens of thousands of American and allied troops throughout the two-decade conflict.

Critics blasted the Biden administration for ceding control of the base to the Taliban before the August 2021 withdrawal was completed.

Without Bagram, the U.S. relied solely on the Kabul airport to evacuate its personnel and its Afghan allies. Thirteen Marines were killed and more than 170 people were wounded during an ISIS attack at that airport during the chaotic U.S. exit.