America’s top foreign ally has demanded Donald Trump apologize for dismissing NATO’s role in Afghanistan, describing the U.S. president’s comments as “insulting and appalling.”
In a scorched-earth rebuke after Trump returned to Washington from the World Economic Forum, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer hit out at the president for minimizing the role allied nations played in helping U.S. forces in years-long wars.
Tensions escalated on the global stage this week, when Trump bizarrely claimed that the U.S. has never needed NATO’s help, apparently forgetting how allied nations came to America’s aid after September 11 and died fighting with U.S. forces on the frontlines of Afghanistan.
“Will they be there if we ever need them?” said Trump, who avoided being conscripted to war by citing bone spurs in his heels.
“We’ve never needed them… “We have never really asked anything of them. You know, they’ll say they sent some troops to Afghanistan, and they did—they stayed a little back, little off the front lines. But we’ve been very good to Europe and to many other countries.”
But a furious Starmer hit back at the president, reminding him that 457 British soldiers lost their lives in Afghanistan, “and I will never forget their courage, their bravery, and the sacrifice that they made for their country.”
“And so I consider President Trump’s remark insulting, and frankly, appalling,” he said.
So too did the families of soldiers injured in war, such as Diane Dernie, the mother of a former British paratrooper, who said the UK Prime Minister should demand an apology from his U.S. counterpart.
Asked if he would call for an apology from Trump, Starmer said: “I’ve made my position clear, and 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.”
Trump’s comments were made to Fox Business on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum on Thursday, one day after softening his bid to seize Greenland in the wake of global pushback.
But they sparked an immediate backlash, given that America is the only NATO member to have invoked the collective security provisions of Article 5—that an attack against one member is an attack on all.
This led to NATO coming to America’s aid in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2011, paving the way for ongoing involvement in expanded patrols over North America and later, a major military engagement in Afghanistan.
During that war, the soldiers from NATO countries, including the U.K., France, and Germany, suffered more than 1100 casualties as they fought alongside Americans. Denmark, which Trump has pressured to hand over Greenland, suffered the highest number of casualties per capita.
Trying to convince myself and my parents I’ll be fine after fighting a bit further back from the front line. pic.twitter.com/wTUdzkj914
— Ben Mcbean (@benmcbean) January 23, 2026
Ben McBean, a former Royal Marine Commando, lost his leg after an IED explosion during his deployment to Afghanistan in 2008.
He was also outraged by Trump’s remarks, taking to X to post a photo of his devastating injuries.
“Trying to convince myself and my parents I’ll be fine after fighting a bit further back from the front line,” he wrote.
Starmer’s comments are significant because the UK Prime Minister is considered a key ally of Trump and is often criticized by Brits for being too reluctant to stand up to the president.
But the pair have been at odds this month over America’s push to seize Greenland—and Trump’s initial threat of military force.
After branding Trump’s comments as appalling and insulting, Starmer was asked if he was getting “a bit exasperated” by some of the things Trump says.
“We have a very close relationship with the U.S., and that is important for our security, for our defense and our intelligence, and it’s very important we maintain that relationship,” he said.
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