Campaign rally at the Forum River Center in Rome, Georgia, US — Reuters/File
- King Charles’ concern over Trump’s initial comments.
- Trump says UK soldiers will always be with the US.
- The sacrifice of soldiers must not be forgotten: British Prime Minister.
US President Donald Trump on Saturday praised “brave” British soldiers, calling them warriors, a day after comments he made about NATO troops in Afghanistan were described as “insulting and appalling” by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Trump sparked widespread anger in Britain and across Europe after he said European troops had been kept off the front lines in Afghanistan.
Britain lost 457 military deaths in Afghanistan, its deadliest foreign war since the 1950s. During several of the most intense years of the war it led the Allied campaign in Helmand, Afghanistan’s largest and most violent province, while also fighting as the United States’ main ally on the battlefield in Iraq.
“The GREAT and very BRAVE soldiers of the United Kingdom will always stand with the United States of America!” Trump wrote in Truth Social. “In Afghanistan, 457 were killed, many seriously wounded, and they were among the greatest warriors. It is a bond too strong to ever break.”
The Sun on Sunday newspaper reported that King Charles’ concerns about Trump’s initial comments had been conveyed to the president, who last year expressed his admiration for the monarch during a state visit to Britain. Buckingham Palace declined to comment on the report.
Trump also provoked an unusually strong reaction from Starmer, who has tended to avoid direct criticism of the president in public.
The British leader’s office issued a statement to say the prime minister had spoken to the president on Saturday about the issue.
“The Prime Minister highlighted the brave and heroic British and American soldiers who fought side by side in Afghanistan, many of whom never returned home,” the statement said. “We must never forget their sacrifice,” he said.
Veterans in Britain and elsewhere have been lining up to condemn the U.S. president’s comments on Fox Business Network’s “Mornings with Maria” on Thursday, in which he said the United States had “never needed” the transatlantic alliance and accused allies of staying “a little bit off the front lines” in Afghanistan.
Among them was King Charles’ youngest son, Prince Harry, who served two tours in Afghanistan.
“Those sacrifices deserve to be talked about with sincerity and respect,” he said in a statement.
