UK's Starmer slams Trump remarks on non-US NATO troops in Afghanistan as
'insulting' and 'appalling'
[January 24, 2026]
By PAN PYLAS
LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer signaled Friday that
U.S. President Donald Trump should apologize for his false assertion
that troops from non-U.S. NATO countries avoided the front line during
the Afghanistan war, describing Trump's remarks as “insulting” and
“frankly appalling.”
Trump's comment that he wasn't sure the other 31 nations in NATO would
be there to support the United States if and when requested, provoked
outrage and distress across the United Kingdom. regardless of
individuals' political persuasion.
“We’ve never needed them, we have never really asked anything of them,"
Trump said of non-US troops in an interview with Fox Business Network in
Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday. "You know, they’ll say they sent some
troops to Afghanistan, or this or that, and they did — they stayed a
little back, a little off the front lines.”
That view stands at odds with the reality that in October 2001, nearly a
month after the Sept. 11 attacks, the U.S. led an international
coalition in Afghanistan to destroy al-Qaida, which had used the country
as its base, and the group's Taliban hosts. Alongside the U.S. were
troops from dozens of countries, including from NATO, whose
mutual-defense mandate had been triggered for the first time after the
attacks on New York and Washington.
UK sacrifice
In the U.K., the reaction to Trump's comments was raw.
Starmer paid tribute to the 457 British personnel who died and to those
have been left with profound life-long injuries.
“I will never forget their courage, their bravery and the sacrifice they
made for their country,” Starmer said. “I consider President Trump’s
remarks to be insulting and frankly appalling and I am not surprised
they have caused such hurt to the loved ones of those who were killed or
injured and, in fact, across the country.”
Without naming Trump, Prince Harry weighed in to the furor too, saying
the “sacrifices” of British soldiers during the war “deserve to be
spoken about truthfully and with respect.”
“Thousands of lives were changed forever," said Harry, who undertook two
tours of duty in Afghanistan in the British Army and who lost friends
there. “Mothers and fathers buried sons and daughters. Children were
left without a parent. Families are left carrying the cost.”
After 9/11, then Prime Minister Tony Blair said that the U.K. would
“stand shoulder to shoulder” with the U.S. in response to the al-Qaida
attacks. British troops took a key role in many operations during the
Afghan war particularly in Helmand Province in the south of the country,
until their withdrawal from combat operations in 2014. British troops
remained, in a support role, alongside the U.S. military until the
chaotic withdrawal in 2021 when the Taliban returned to power.
More than 150,000 British troops served in Afghanistan in the years
after the invasion, the largest contingent after the American one.
Ben Obese-Jecty, a lawmaker who served in Afghanistan as a captain in
the Royal Yorkshire Regiment, said that it was “sad to see our nation’s
sacrifice, and that of our NATO partners, held so cheaply by the
president of the United States."
Trump and Vietnam
Anger was further fueled by the fact that the comments came from someone
who didn't serve in the Vietnam War at a time when he was eligible.
[to top of second column]
|
Relatives of British Army Private Douglas Halliday, of the 1st
Battalion The Mercian Regiment, one of the seven British soldiers
killed in Afghanistan, line a street as his coffin is driven through
the town of Wootton Bassett, England, following repatriation,
Tuesday, June 29, 2010. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis, file)
“It’s hugely ironic that someone who allegedly dodged the draft for
the Vietnam War should make such a disgraceful statement," said
Stephen Stewart, author of “The Accidental Soldier,” an account of
his time embedded with British troops in Afghanistan.
Trump received a deferment that allowed him to not serve in Vietnam
because of bone spurs, but he has been unable to remember in which
foot, leading to accusations of draft dodging.
Repeated NATO slights
It wasn't the first time that Trump downplayed the commitment of
NATO countries over the past few days. It has been one of his
pivotal lines of attack as he escalated his threats to seize
Greenland, a semiautonomous territory belonging to Denmark.
Trump’s allegation that NATO countries won’t be there when requested
stands in stark contrast to reality.
The only time Article 5 of NATO’s founding treaty has been used was
in response to the 9/11 attacks on the U.S. The article is the key
mutual defense clause, obliging all member countries to come to the
aid of another member whose sovereignty or territorial integrity
might be under threat.
“When America needed us after 9/11 we were there,” former Danish
platoon commander Martin Tamm Andersen said.
Denmark has been a stalwart ally of the U.S. in Afghanistan, with 44
Danish soldiers killed there — the highest per capita death toll
among coalition forces. Eight more died in Iraq.
The latest controversy surrounding Trump comes at the end of a week
when he has faced criticism — and pushback — for his threats to
Greenland.
Trump also threatened to slap tariffs on European nations opposed to
his ambitions to annex Greenland, which raised questions over the
future of NATO. And though Trump backed down after a meeting with
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte in which he said they formed the
“framework” for a deal over Arctic security, trans-Atlantic
relations have taken a hit.
His latest comments are unlikely to improve relations.
Diane Dernie, whose son Ben Parkinson suffered horrific injuries
when a British Army Land Rover hit a mine in Afghanistan in 2006,
said that Trump's latest comments were “the ultimate insult” and
called on Starmer to stand up to Trump over them.
“Call him out,” she said. “Make a stand for those who fought for
this country and for our flag, because it’s just beyond belief."
Taking her up on that, Starmer said “what I say to Diane is, if I
had misspoken in that way or said those words, I would certainly
apologize and I’d apologize to her.”
___
Anders Kongshaug contributed to this report from Copenhagen,
Denmark.
All contents © copyright 2026 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
