Taliban officials have turned down President Donald Trump's proposal for the United States to regain control of Bagram Air Base near Kabul after the Biden administration abandoned it during the 2021 withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan.

In a Thursday post on X, Zakir Jalaly, an official at the Taliban's Foreign Ministry, said that Afghanistan is willing to discuss the base with the Trump administration, but the U.S. will not be permitted to re-establish a military presence in the country.

"Afghanistan and the United States need to interact with each other and can have economic and political relations based on mutual respect and shared interests," Jalaly wrote, but the "Afghans have not accepted a military presence in history."

The Hill reported that Muhajir Farahi, the deputy minister of information and culture in Afghanistan, shared part of a poem on X, which said that those who "once smashed their heads against the rocks with us, their minds have still not found peace."

During an early Thursday joint press conference in the United Kingdom with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Trump said the U.S. "gave" the Soviet-built base to the Taliban "for nothing."

"We're trying to get it back, by the way," the president said. "That could be a little breaking news, we're trying to get it back because they need things from us."

"We want that base back but one of the reasons we want the base is, as you know, it's an hour away from where China makes its nuclear weapons," he added.

Trump did not elaborate further on plans to regain control of the air base.

Bagram, which was the main base for American forces in Afghanistan following the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, fell into Taliban hands after the chaotic withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan in 2021.

Both Taliban leaders and Beijing have rejected prior Trump claims that China had moved to take control of the base.

"They should refrain from making emotional statements based on unsubstantiated information," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in March when asked to respond to the president's claims, according to Voice of America.

"Bagram is controlled by the Islamic Emirate [Taliban regime], not China," Mujahid added. "Chinese troops are not present here, nor do we have any such pact with any country."

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