US President Donald Trump stated today at a joint press conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer that he wants to keep Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, UNN reports with reference to CNN.
According to media reports, Bagram Air Base, located north of the country's capital Kabul, was the largest US military base in Afghanistan from October 2001 to July 2021, when the US handed it over to Afghan forces.
Trump has repeatedly stated that he would never want the US to leave the base, which he unexpectedly visited on Thanksgiving Day in 2019 during his first presidential term, primarily due to its proximity to China.
The facility was secured during the US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. Earlier this month, Trump called the Biden administration "stupid" for withdrawing US troops from the base.
"We were going to leave Afghanistan, but we were going to leave there with strength and dignity, and we were going to keep Bagram," Trump said during the conference with Starmer. "We gave it to them for free. By the way, we're trying to get it back."
After the withdrawal of troops in 2021, according to a Pentagon report, the US left behind $7 billion worth of military equipment.