campaign meeting at the Forum River Center in Rome, Georgia, USA. — Reuters/File
- King Charles’ concern over Trump’s opening remarks.
- Trump says soldiers from Britain will always be with the United States.
- The sacrifice of soldiers must not be forgotten: The British Prime Minister.
US President Donald Trump on Saturday praised “brave” British soldiers and called them warriors, a day after remarks 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 stayed away from the front lines in Afghanistan.
Britain lost 457 service members killed in Afghanistan, its deadliest overseas war since the 1950s. For several of the war’s most intense years, it led the allied campaign in Helmand, Afghanistan’s largest and most violent province, while also fighting as America’s most important battlefield ally in Iraq.
“The GREAT and very BRAVE soldiers of the United Kingdom will always be with the United States!” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “In Afghanistan, 457 died, many were seriously wounded, and they were among the greatest of all fighters. It’s a bond too strong to ever be broken.”
The Sun on Sunday newspaper reported that King Charles’ concerns about Trump’s opening remarks had been relayed to the president, who expressed his admiration for the monarch during a state visit to Britain last year. Buckingham Palace declined to comment on the report.
Trump had 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 about the issue on Saturday.
“The Prime Minister paid tribute to 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 lined up to condemn the US president’s comments on Fox Business Network’s “Mornings with Maria” on Thursday, in which he said the US 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’ younger son, Prince Harry, who served two tours in Afghanistan.
“These victims deserve to be spoken of truthfully and with respect,” he said in a statement.
