United States President Donald Trump has praised British soldiers a day after receiving a rare public rebuke from UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer over comments suggesting European troops stayed “a little off the front lines” during the war in Afghanistan.
In an apparent attempt to ease tensions, Trump posted a message on social media on Saturday acknowledging the scale of the UK’s losses in the conflict. He noted that 457 British soldiers had been killed, with many more wounded, describing them as “among the greatest of all warriors”.
“The GREAT and very BRAVE soldiers of the United Kingdom will always be with the United States of America!” Trump wrote. “It’s a bond too strong to ever be broken.”
The comments followed Starmer’s sharp criticism of remarks Trump made in an interview with Fox News on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. On Friday, the British prime minister said the comments were “insulting and, frankly, appalling”.
Asked whether he would seek an apology from Trump, Starmer replied: “If I had misspoken in that way or said those words, I would certainly apologise.”
Although Trump stopped short of issuing an apology, his conciliatory message came after a phone call with Starmer earlier on Saturday, according to a statement from the UK leader’s office.
“The prime minister raised 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.”
The row also drew comment from Prince Harry, King Charles’s younger son, who served two tours in Afghanistan. Speaking on Friday, he said the “sacrifices” of UK troops during the war “deserve to be spoken about truthfully and with respect”.
Anger over Trump’s remarks extended beyond Britain. Several European leaders, including Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and French President Emmanuel Macron, reacted critically on Saturday.
Alongside US and UK forces, troops from dozens of other countries took part in the Afghanistan war under NATO’s banner. The alliance’s collective defence clause, Article 5, was invoked for the first time after the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington.
More than 150 Canadian soldiers were killed in Afghanistan, along with about 90 French troops and dozens from Germany, Italy, Denmark and other countries. The United States is reported to have lost more than 2,400 service members.
The human cost for Afghans was far higher. At least 46,319 Afghan civilians were killed as a direct result of the 2001 invasion, according to a 2021 estimate by Brown University’s Costs of War project.
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