Donald Trump and his White House team spent much of the summer practically begging the Norwegian Nobel Committee to give the president a Nobel Peace Prize, his record notwithstanding, though the public relations campaign has died down a bit of late.
It’s been replaced with presidential saber-rattling at two different countries simultaneously.
First up is Afghanistan, a country Trump has talked about going back into since 2022. Though the president had expressed greater interest in acquiring Canada, Greenland, the Panama Canal and the Gaza Strip, the Republican took a renewed interest in Afghanistan last week, insisting that the White House was “trying” to reacquire the Bagram Airbase, a former U.S. military base. “We want that base back,” he told reporters.
Over the weekend, the president went even further. NBC News reported:
Trump on Saturday renewed his call to reestablish a U.S. presence at Bagram, even saying ‘we’re talking now to Afghanistan’ about the matter. He did not offer further details about the purported conversations. Asked by a reporter if he’d consider deploying U.S. troops to take the base, Trump demurred.
“We won’t talk about that,” Trump said. “We want it back, and we want it back right away. If they don’t do it, you’re going to find out what I’m going to do.”
Q: "Are you willing to rule out boots on the ground to get Bagram back?"Trump: "We won't talk about that. But we're talking now to Afghanistan. We want it back."Q: "Are you willing to rule out boots on the ground?"Trump: "If they don't do it, you're going to find out what I'm going to do."
— The Bulwark (@thebulwark.com) 2025-09-21T01:41:47.028Z
Asked specifically about whether he was prepared to deploy American troops back into Afghanistan, Trump replied, “We’ll see what happens.”
A day later, the Taliban said it had no interest in letting U.S. forces have the abandoned base back, suggesting the ball is now back in the White House’s court.
Meanwhile, this isn’t the only country facing oblique threats from the Oval Office. Trump has also made provocative comments about Venezuela, and a reporter asked the American president last week whether he’s prepared to launch military strikes, not just on boats near the country, but also on mainland Venezuela. “We’ll see what happens,” he responded again.
Over the weekend, the Republican published a related item to his social media platform that read, “We want Venezuela to immediately accept all of the prisoners, and people from mental institutions, which includes the Worst in the World Insane Asylums, that Venezuelan ‘Leadership’ has forced into the United States of America. Thousands of people have been badly hurt, and even killed, by these ‘Monsters.’”
Trump’s missive concluded, “GET THEM THE HELL OUT OF OUR COUNTRY, RIGHT NOW, OR THE PRICE YOU PAY WILL BE INCALCULABLE!” To the extent that reality matters, there is no evidence of Venezuela, or any other country, is forcing “people from mental institutions” into the U.S. It’s just one of those weird things that Trump likes to believe (I’ve long suspected that he’s confused about the difference between people seeking asylum and those from actual asylums). I mention this because as Trump threatens Venezuela with “incalculable” penalties, he’s asking the country to “immediately accept” a group of people who don’t appear to exist, which might make compliance difficult. Nevertheless, if you voted for Trump because you expected restraint on foreign policy or the use of military force abroad, I continue to have bad news for you. This post updates our related earlier coverage.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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