Former U.S. President Donald Trump has reiterated that while the U.S. was destined to leave Afghanistan, the withdrawal should have been executed with “strength and dignity.”
Speaking at the White House yesterday, Trump referred to his administration’s efforts to rebuild the U.S. military and criticized President Joe Biden for leaving behind American equipment during the exit.
“The manner of the withdrawal from Afghanistan is the most disgraceful event in the history of our country,” Trump said. “They went to the wrong airport. They should have gone to Bagram, not a small, unsecured local airport.”
He emphasized once again that the U.S. should have retained Bagram Airbase, which he described as being just an hour away from China’s nuclear weapons facilities. Trump noted that the base had been constructed years ago at the cost of “billions of dollars.”
While Trump has repeatedly claimed that China now occupies the base, he did not repeat that assertion this time.
In early July, Russia’s Nezavisimaya Gazeta reported—citing a Taliban internal document and unnamed sources in Afghanistan—that the Taliban had invited the U.S. to inspect Bagram. The invitation reportedly came in response to Trump’s persistent claims about Chinese presence at the airbase, which the report suggests is complicating Washington’s financial engagement with the Taliban.
