<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>US President Donald Trump has been quietly pushing his national security officials for months to find a way to get Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan back from the Taliban, three people familiar with the matter told CNN.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Trump hinted at those discussions publicly for the first time on Thursday during his state visit to the UK, telling reporters that his administration is working to regain control of the base, which lies an hour north of Kabul. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The Taliban took it over following the collapse of the Afghan government and the US military withdrawal in 2021.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/christopher-webster-doctor-erin-patterson-case-sanctioned/6b60e2f6-7b4a-4883-8338-699b90496d95" target="_blank"><strong><span>Doctor who blew whistle on mushroom murderer sanctioned</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We gave it to (the Taliban) for nothing," Trump said during a joint press conference with UK Prime Minister Kier Starmer on Thursday. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We're trying to get it back, by the way."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The sources told CNN that the conversations about returning the base to US control date back at least to March. </span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/trump-flags-retaking-bagram-air-base-from-taliban/8f9348b2-f780-4fa7-9194-b5507a63c7e1" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Trump and his senior national security officials believe the base is needed for several reasons, including to surveil China, whose border is less than 300 kilometres away; gain access to rare earth elements and mining in Afghanistan; establish a counterterrorism node to target ISIS; and possibly reopen a diplomatic facility, the sources said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But all of those objectives would require a US military presence, one of the sources said. And a deal that Trump stuck with the Taliban in 2020, during his first term, mandated a full withdrawal of US troops from the country.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/new-zealand-man-issued-ticket-for-eight-second-car-park/5769995d-ed51-4c93-972a-0eef68d12198" target="_blank"><strong><span>'Obscene': Driver given ticket for 'eight seconds' in parking spot</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It's not clear whether or how the Taliban has been engaging with the US on relinquishing control of the key airfield. But Trump suggested on Thursday that the US has leverage over the group.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We're trying to get it back because (the Taliban) need things from us," Trump told reporters in Buckinghamshire, southern England. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We want that base back."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Trump has previously indicated that if the US withdrawal in 2021 had happened under his administration, he'd have kept control of Bagram, citing its strategic importance near the border between Afghanistan and China. Earlier this month he said that the Biden administration was "so stupid" for withdrawing US troops from the base in 2021.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Trump also said on Thursday that Bagram is near where China makes missiles, a claim he made back in March as well.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/earthquake-strikes-off-russia-coast-tsunami-warnings/97051698-3940-4e03-9870-587bb90ee815" target="_blank"><strong><span>Tsunami warnings after huge Russian quake</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We were going to get out, but we were going to keep Bagram, not because of Afghanistan but because of China, because it's exactly one hour away from where China makes its nuclear missiles," he said in March. "We were going to keep a small force on Bagram."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The last US troops left Bagram Air Base in July 2021, CNN has reported. The base had been the centre of US military power in Afghanistan for nearly two decades.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The three-kilometre runway was the jumping off point for military operations throughout the country, with space for cargo aircraft, fighter jets and attack helicopters. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump all visited Bagram during their time in office, promising victory and a better future for Afghanistan. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The base was also the target of numerous Taliban attacks over the years, including suicide bombings and rocket attacks.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>When American troops left the base in 2021, they destroyed nearly 16,000 pieces of equipment in the process, US Central Command said at the time.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In 2023, the State Department released an after-action review of the withdrawal which found that the US' decision to leave Bagram likely contributed to the chaotic US exit from the country as a whole, since it meant that Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul " would be the only avenue for a possible noncombatant evacuation operation (NEO)."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></em></strong></a><strong><em><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. 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