British leaders condemn Trump’s claim NATO troops stayed 'off the front lines'

Prime Minister Keir Starmer, other senior British politicians and Prince Harry condemned President Trump after he said in a Davos interview that NATO troops in Afghanistan had ‘‘stayed a little off the front lines.’’ Mr. Trump made the remarks in an interview in Davos with Fox Business, questioning whether NATO members would come to the aid of the United States and saying, "We’ve never needed them...

they stayed a little back, little off the front lines." Britain, which lost 457 soldiers during two decades of fighting in Afghanistan, reacted swiftly. Mr. Starmer called the remarks "insulting and frankly appalling," saying he would apologize if he had "misspoken in that way or said those words." Prince Harry, recalling his deployment, said, "I served there...

The United Kingdom alone had 457 personnel killed. Thousands of lives were changed forever. Mothers and fathers buried sons and daughters," and added that those sacrifices "deserve to be spoken about truthfully and with respect." Other responses included Defence Secretary John Healey’s comment that "The U.K.

and NATO allies answered the U.S. call" and that British troops "should be remembered for who they were: heroes who gave their lives in service of our nation." Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch called the claim "flat-out nonsense," saying British, Canadian and NATO troops "fought and died alongside the US for 20 years." Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey noted Mr.

Key Topics

World, Donald Trump, Keir Starmer, Prince Harry, Nato, Afghanistan