Four years after expelling American troops, Afghanistan wants to move on from its conflict with the United States. The Taliban government is in talks with the Trump administration about restoring diplomatic ties, economic trade, and perhaps even security cooperation, according to The Wall Street Journal. But President Donald Trump has a price: Bagram Air Base.
Over the past week, Trump has repeatedly brought up the idea of putting U.S. troops back in Bagram. According to CNN, he has been pushing it to his national security team for months. "We're trying to get it back because they need things from us," Trump told reporters during a visit to Britain, later posting on social media that "BAD THINGS ARE GOING TO HAPPEN" if the U.S. military doesn't get Bagram.
The Taliban are not keen on the idea. "Even if the United States recognized the Taliban and pledged to rebuild all of Afghanistan, we would never give up a single inch of our country for their military presence," Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi told the Afghan outlet TOLOnews.
