Starmer has strongly criticised US President Donald Trump for what he described as “insulting and frankly appalling” remarks about Nato troops’ role in Afghanistan, and said Trump should apologise for the comments
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has strongly criticised US President Donald Trump for what he described as “insulting and frankly appalling” remarks about Nato troops’ role in Afghanistan, and said Trump should apologise for the comments.
Trump made the remarks in an interview with Fox News at the World Economic Forum in Davos, claiming that the United States had “never needed” Nato support and that allied forces had stayed “a little off the front lines” during the Afghanistan war.
Responding on Friday, Starmer pointed to the human cost borne by British forces, noting that 457 UK troops were killed and many others injured during the conflict.
“So I consider President Trump’s remarks to be insulting and frankly appalling,” The Guardian quoted Starmer as saying.
“I’m not surprised they’ve caused such hurt to the loved ones of those who were killed or injured,” the prime minister added.
Starmer also suggested that Trump should issue an apology.
“If I had misspoken in that way or said those words, I would certainly apologize,” he said.
Trump has repeatedly questioned whether Nato allies would come to the United States’ aid if needed, reiterating those doubts in the same Fox News interview.
“I’ve always said, ‘Will they be there, if we ever needed them?’ And that’s really the ultimate test. And I’m not sure of that. I know that we would have been there, or we would be there, but will they be there?” he said.
Following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the United States became the first and only Nato member to invoke Article 5, the alliance’s collective defence clause. Nato allies and partner nations fought alongside US forces in Afghanistan for two decades, a contribution critics say Trump has repeatedly downplayed.
Trump’s comments have angered Nato allies at the end of a week in which he has already strained relations within the alliance, including through repeated threats to seize control of Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, another Nato member.
With inputs from agencies
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