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Donald Trump lauded the UK\u2019s military after Prime Minister Keir Starmer urged the US president to apologize for downplaying the role of NATO troops in the war in Afghanistan.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The president in a Saturday social media post stopped short of making a full apology, but said that British forces are \u201csecond to none\u201d and that their \u201cGREAT and very BRAVE soldiers\u201d will \u201calways be with the United States of America.\u201d<\/p>\n
But one of Trump\u2019s closer allies in Europe, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, issued a strong statement later Saturday saying Trump\u2019s remarks \u201castonished\u201d the government in Rome.<\/p>\n
\u201cStatements that minimize the contribution of NATO countries in Afghanistan are unacceptable, especially when they come from an allied nation,\u201d her office said.<\/p>\n
Several other European allies, including Denmark, also blasted Trump\u2019s remarks. His post Saturday, however, made no reference to troops from allies other than the UK.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn Afghanistan, 457 died, many were badly injured, and they were among the greatest of all warriors. It\u2019s a bond too strong to ever be broken,\u201d Trump wrote about the British contribution.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Earlier:\u00a0Starmer Condemns \u2018Appalling\u2019 Trump Words on Afghanistan Role\u00a0<\/p>\n
Trump and Starmer also spoke, according to the UK government.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe prime minister raised the brave and heroic British and American soldiers who fought side by side in Afghanistan, many of whom never returned home. We must never forget their sacrifice,\u201d the UK said in a statement, noting that the two leaders agreed to speak soon.<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s initial\u00a0comments\u00a0set off widespread outrage among North American Treaty Organization allies, which were already reeling from his effort to strong-arm Denmark into giving up control of Greenland, including by threating tariffs on European products.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The president said on Fox Business that NATO only sent \u201csome troops\u201d during the US\u2019s 2001 invasion of Afghanistan and that they \u201cstayed a little back, a little off the front lines.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Starmer said that Trump\u2019s remarks were \u201cinsulting and frankly appalling\u201d and that he would have apologized if he used them himself.<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s post only mentioned the contributions of UK soldiers, though other allies had troops killed during the conflict. Some 3,486 NATO troops died, of which 2,461 were American. Canada recorded 165 deaths, including civilians, and Denmark lost 44 soldiers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen pointed out that her country suffered tremendous losses on a per capita basis.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is unbearable that the American president questions the efforts of allied soldiers in Afghanistan,\u201d she said in written comments.<\/p>\n
Frederiksen had already used increasingly oppositional rhetoric against Trump over his push to seize Greenland, which is a semi-autonomous Danish territory.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
#Trump #hails #troops #sacrifice #backlash #NATO #remark<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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