President Donald Trump on Saturday commended British troops who fought in Afghanistan, backtracking on earlier remarks that drew criticism from NATO allies.
In an interview Thursday, Trump had claimed troops from non-American NATO countries had stayed off the “front lines” during the war in Afghanistan. The comments drew fierce criticism across Europe, including from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who called them “insulting and frankly, appalling.”
Trump had told Fox Business the U.S. “never needed” the trans-Atlantic military alliance, one of the pillars of the post-World War II international order.
“We have never really asked anything of them,” he said. “You know, they’ll say they sent some troops to Afghanistan or this or that, and they did. They stayed a little back, little off the front lines.”
In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, Trump wrote that the “great and very brave soldiers of the United Kingdom will always be with the United States of America.”
He did not make a direct apology for his remarks, however.
Of the 3,621 coalition troops killed during the war, around 1,160 were from America’s allies, including 457 British service members.
Trump described them, as well as those who were badly injured, as “among the greatest of all warriors.”
“The U.K. Military, with tremendous Heart and Soul, is second to none (except for the U.S.A.!). We love you all, and always will!” Trump added.
Starmer’s office said the prime minister had discussed the issue with Trump in a phone call on Saturday.
“The Prime Minister raised the brave and heroic British and American soldiers who fought side by side in Afghanistan, many of whom never returned home,” Downing Street said in a statement. “We must never forget their sacrifice.”
In the wake of the September 11, 2001, terror attacks, the U.S. led an international coalition in Afghanistan with the aim of toppling the terror group Al Qaeda and the country’s ruling militant group, the Taliban. NATO triggered Article 5, a mutual defense pact in its charter, for the first and only time to date.
Prince Harry, who served two tours in Afghanistan with the British Army, had joined a chorus of veterans and U.K. and European officials in rebuking Trump’s remarks.
In a statement Friday, the Duke of Sussex said allies “answered” the call to join the U.S.-led mission in Afghanistan, rallying in pursuit of “shared security.”
“I served there. I made lifelong friends there. And I lost friends there,” he said.
“Those sacrifices deserve to be spoken about truthfully and with respect, as we all remain united and loyal to the defense of diplomacy and peace,” Harry added.
Britain’s veterans minister, Alistair Carns, whose own military service included five tours in Afghanistan, called Trump’s claims “utterly ridiculous.”
Trump’s remarks worsened already strained diplomatic relations with European allies rattled by his push to acquire Greenland.
Trump used his address at the World Economic Forum last week to chastise Europe, accusing countries of “destroying themselves” and saying that “certain places in Europe are not even recognizable, frankly, anymore.”
The United States lost about 2,460 troops in Afghanistan, according to the Defense Department.
More than 150 Canadians were also killed, along with 90 French service personnel, while Denmark lost 44 troops, one of NATO’s highest death rates per capita.
