Former US President Donald Trump has slammed Joe Biden’s “surrender” of Afghanistan, warning that China could seize the Bagram Air Base, formerly the largest US military base in Afghanistan, according to Fox News.
In an exclusive interview with Fox News, Trump accused the Biden administration of attempting to move on from the withdrawal and its ongoing consequences on purpose.
“We would have kept Bagram because it is next to China,” Trump said, adding, “And it is one hour away from their nuclear facility, and we gave that up too. And now China’s going to take over Bagram, in my opinion.”
Trump told Fox News that even if he planned to leave Afghanistan, he would keep control of the Parwan Detention Facility, a military prison at the Bagram Air Base.
“What they did with the so-called withdrawal, which was really a surrender, it was the most embarrassing, horrible thing, and I don’t know that we will ever psychologically recover from that,” Trump said, Fox News reported.
During his presidency, Trump negotiated a deal with the Taliban for a troop withdrawal in May 2021.
“Don’t forget, I’m the one who brought it down to 2,500 troops. I would have been out too, but we would have been out with strength. We would have come out with strength,” Trump said.
Meanwhile, Trump chastised the Biden administration for withdrawing the military first, despite reports of hundreds of US citizens and US visa holders remaining in Afghanistan under Taliban rule.
“We would have gotten all the people out, we would have brought all of our equipment out, we wouldn’t have had dead soldiers, we wouldn’t have soldiers missing arms and legs–because people don’t even talk about that–we lost 13, but we have many that have been gravely wounded. None of that would have happened,” Trump said.
“It was time to get out, but the way he got out was such a disaster,” he added.
According to the report, Trump then went on to say that he holds “the generals accountable because they should never have allowed that to happen.”
