Washington, DC, and London
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US President Donald Trump praised British troops Saturday after sustained outrage over comments he made this week downplaying the sacrifices of NATO forces in Afghanistan.
“The GREAT and very BRAVE soldiers of the United Kingdom will always be with the United States of America!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“In Afghanistan, 457 died, many were badly injured, and they were among the greatest of all warriors,” he continued. “It’s a bond too strong to ever be broken. 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!”
The message got here after livid response to comments the president made minimizing the role NATO forces performed in Afghanistan. The president’s remarks rankled US allies in NATO, coming at the top of every week in which he severely strained the alliance by his threats to grab management of Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, one other NATO member.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Prince Harry, who served in the battle, had been amongst those that criticized the comments, with Starmer calling them “insulting and frankly appalling.”
Starmer later raised the problem on a name with Trump on Saturday, in which they mentioned “the brave and heroic British and American soldiers who fought side by side in Afghanistan, many of whom never returned home,” a Downing Street spokesperson mentioned.
After the 9/11 terrorist assaults, the US turned the primary and to date solely NATO member to invoke Article 5, which states that an assault towards one member is an assault towards all. For 20 years, NATO allies and different accomplice nations fought alongside US troops in Afghanistan.
“We’ve never needed them,” Trump mentioned of NATO in an interview on Thursday with Fox Business. “We have never really asked anything of them. 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.”
“If I had misspoken in that way or said those words, I would certainly apologize,” Starmer mentioned Friday.
The White House initially shrugged off Starmer’s criticism and insisted Trump was appropriate in his sentiments.
“President Trump is absolutely right — the United States of America has done more for NATO than any other country in the alliance has done combined,” Taylor Rogers, a White House spokesperson, mentioned when requested to reply to Starmer’s comments.
Starmer and Trump in their name Saturday “discussed the need for bolstered security in the Arctic,” Downing Street mentioned, after a tense week of diplomacy relating to Greenland and Trump’s announcement of a “framework deal” in relation to the autonomous territory.
“The leaders discussed the importance of the UK-US relationship, which continues to stand the test of time,” the Downing Street readout concluded. “They agreed to speak soon.”
Trump’s social media publish Saturday got here amid intense backlash over his NATO comments.
Prince Harry, a veteran of two front-line excursions in Afghanistan, mentioned by his spokesperson that the sacrifices of NATO troops “deserve to be spoken about truthfully and with respect.”
Even Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, a staunch Trump ally, disavowed his remarks.
Meloni wrote in a publish on X on Saturday that the Italian authorities was stunned by Trump’s comments.
“Statements that minimize the contribution of NATO countries in Afghanistan are unacceptable, especially if they come from an allied Nation,” she mentioned.
Meloni mentioned that Italy and the US stay “bound by a solid friendship.”
“But friendship requires respect, a fundamental condition for continuing to ensure the solidarity at the heart of the Atlantic Alliance,” she continued.
Danish troops who fought alongside US forces expressed a sense of betrayal over Trump’s remarks on NATO, compounded by the president’s repeated threats to “acquire” Greenland earlier than strolling them again this week.
While Trump praised British troops in his message Saturday, he made no point out of different NATO nations that misplaced troops over the two-decade battle.