Trump praises British troops after drawing outrage at comments downplaying NATO’s role in Afghanistan

By Kevin Liptak, Lauren Kent, CNN

Washington, DC, and London (CNN) — 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 came after furious reaction to comments the president made minimizing the role NATO forces played in Afghanistan. The president’s remarks rankled US allies in NATO, coming at the end of a week in which he severely strained the alliance through his threats to seize control of Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, another NATO member.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Prince Harry, who served in the conflict, were among those who criticized the comments, with Starmer calling them “insulting and frankly appalling.”

Starmer later raised the issue on a call with Trump on Saturday, in which they discussed “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 said.

After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the US became the first and so far only NATO member to invoke Article 5, which states that an attack against one member is an attack against all. For 20 years, NATO allies and other partner countries fought alongside US troops in Afghanistan.

“We’ve never needed them,” Trump said 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 said Friday.

The White House initially shrugged off Starmer’s criticism and insisted Trump was correct 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, said when asked to respond to Starmer’s comments.

Starmer and Trump in their call Saturday “discussed the need for bolstered security in the Arctic,” Downing Street said, after a tense week of diplomacy regarding 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 post Saturday came amid intense backlash over his NATO comments.

Prince Harry, a veteran of two front-line tours in Afghanistan, said through 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 post on X on Saturday that the Italian government was surprised 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 said.

Meloni said that Italy and the US remain “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 feeling of betrayal over Trump’s remarks on NATO, compounded by the president’s repeated threats to “acquire” Greenland before walking them back this week.

While Trump praised British troops in his message Saturday, he made no mention of other NATO countries that lost troops over the two-decade conflict.

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Antonia Mortensen contributed to this report.