Why Does Trump Want U.S. Troops Back in Afghanistan?
“I liked [Bagram] not because of Afghanistan. I liked it because of China,” Trump said in July 2024. That idea seems to have been put in his head by Mike Waltz, who served as his national security adviser from January to May 2025. During the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, then-Rep. Waltz (R–Fla.) had publicly argued that giving up Bagram was a mistake because “we will no longer have a U.S. airfield in a country that borders China,” which could have been useful to incite Uyghur resistance against Beijing or threaten China with a second front during a future Pacific war.
It was one of the many Hail Mary arguments by hawks who wanted to prevent a U.S. withdrawal. Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R–Ill.) argued that Afghanistan’s mineral wealth was too valuable to give up. Democrats and Rep. Liz Cheney (R–Wyo.) tried to portray the Taliban as a Russian proxy, citing dubious intelligence about Russian operations in Afghanistan.
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6. Control of supply chains and trade routes
Afghanistan is rich in untapped minerals and sits on emerging trade corridors. Whoever controls Bagram holds a strategic lever over the economic routes China and Russia want to secure.
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10. The Eurasia grand chessboard
At its core, Trump’s obsession with Bagram reflects a bigger vision: Central Asia is the pivot. Control it, and you can tilt the balance between the three biggest players—Russia, China, and India. Leave it, and rivals fill the vacuum.
Ms. Cat’s Chronicles 