UK PM, others outraged at Trump's comments downplaying NATO allies' role during Afghanistan war
Prince Harry and British Prime Minister Kier Starmer on Friday slammed President Donald Trump's comments after he claimed troops from NATO allies were "a little off the front lines" during fighting in Afghanistan.
Harry, a British Army captain deployed to Afghanistan twice in 2008 and 2012, said in a statement that when NATO invoked Article 5 for the first and only time in its history to assist U.S. troops in Afghanistan -- America's allies "answered that call."
"I served there. I made lifelong friends there. And I lost friends there. The United Kingdom alone had 457 service personnel killed," he said.
"Thousands of lives were changed forever. Mothers and fathers buried sons and daughters. Children were left without a parent. Families are left carrying the cost," he said.
"Those sacrifices deserve to be spoken about truthfully and with respect, as we all remain united and loyal to the defence of diplomacy and peace," Harry added.
His comments came after Trump repeated claims downplaying the help NATO allies provided in military operations against the Taliban following the Sept. 11 terror attacks on the U.S.
In an interview with Fox News on Thursday in Davos, Switzerland -- amid this week's tensions with NATO over his efforts to acquire Greenland -- Trump said, "We never needed them."
"We have never really asked anything of them," he said.
"They'll say they sent some troops to Afghanistan and they did, they stayed a little back, a little off the front lines," Trump added.
In response to a request for comment on the reactions from world leaders, White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers provided a statement reading:"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."
More than 3,500 NATO troops died in Afghanistan, according to icasualties.org, a website that tracked combat deaths by country. The majority of those -- nearly 2,500 -- were U.S. troops with thousands more wounded.
But while Americans took the heaviest hit, other countries suffered similar losses in terms of per capita.
Britain, whose population is about one-fifth the size of the U.S., says it lost more than 457 troops in the conflict while Denmark, whose population is 2% of the U.S., said 44 of its soldiers were killed.
Starmer told reporters Friday that Trump's remarks were "insulting and frankly, appalling."
"I'm not surprised they've caused such hurt to the loved ones of those who were killed or injured. And in fact, across the country," the British leader said.
Starmer paid tribute to the British personnel killed and wounded.
"I will never forget their courage, their bravery and the sacrifice that they made for their country," he said.
Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk also blasted Trump's comments in a post on X on Friday. The country lost 44 soldiers during the operations, according to Poland's Ministry of National Defence.
"On December 22, 2011, in Ghazni, Afghanistan, I took part in the farewell ceremony for the five fallen Polish soldiers. The American officers who accompanied me then, told me that America would never forget the Polish heroes. Perhaps they will remind President Trump of that fact," Tusk said.
Trump has in recent weeks repeated his claim that NATO countries wouldn't come to defense of the U.S., despite the fact that Denmark, in particular, fought alongside the U.S. after the 9/11 attacks.
"The big fear I have with NATO is we spend tremendous amounts of money with NATO, and I know we'll come to their rescue, but I just really do question whether or not they'll come to ours," Trump said on Wednesday during his address at the World Economic Forum.
