LONDON — After drawing a wave of backlash in Britain by saying U.K. forces stayed “off the front lines” in Afghanistan, President Donald Trump abruptly reversed course this weekend, praising British soldiers who fought in the U.S.-led war.
The retreat, according to a British newspaper, followed a low-key intervention by King Charles III, whose son Prince Harry served on the front lines as a helicopter pilot and lost friends in the fighting. The United Kingdom was second only to the United States in total number of soldiers killed in Afghanistan.
Trump hailed U.K. forces Saturday as “among the greatest of all warriors,” a marked shift from his belittling dismissal of the role of NATO allies in Afghanistan, when he told an interviewer on Fox Business Network: “They’ll say they sent some troops to Afghanistan, or this or that, and they did, they stayed a little back, a little off the front lines.”
Posting on social media on Sunday evening, Trump wrote: “The GREAT and very BRAVE soldiers of the United Kingdom will always be with the United States of America!”
He added: “The U.K. Military, with tremendous Heart and Soul, is second to none (except for the U.S.A.!).”
Trump’s praise followed days of criticism and outrage from Prime Minister Keir Starmer and other political leaders as well as families of soldiers who died in action. Even Harry issued a public rebuke, though he did not cite Trump by name.
In the interview, Trump repeated a false claim he has made previously that the U.S. has never been supported by NATO allies, even though the only time the alliance invoked its collective defense provision was after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in support of the United States.
“We’ve never needed them,” Trump said in the interview. “We have never really asked anything of them.” To invoke the collective defense provision, known as Article 5, an ally must request assistance, and other member nations must agree unanimously to provide help.
Trump’s comments struck a nerve in Britain, where 457 British personnel were killed in Afghanistan and where the war remains deeply personal to the royal family.
Harry, who served two tour tours in Afghanistan and remains actively involved with wounded veterans through the Invictus Games, issued a pointed statement reminding audiences that the collective defense provision was invoked just once. “I served there. I made lifelong friends there,” he wrote. “And I lost friends there.”
The Sun reported Sunday that concerns from Charles were conveyed to the White House ahead of Trump’s latest comments. Citing an unnamed source, the newspaper said the king expressed concern about the hurt caused by the comments, “whether inadvertent or not.” Buckingham Palace declined to comment, neither confirming the report nor denying it.
Charles and Queen Camilla are widely expected to visit the U.S. this spring as part of the 250th anniversary of American independence, though no date has been confirmed.
Starmer also spoke with Trump on Saturday afternoon, his office said.
“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,” a spokesperson said. “We must never forget their sacrifice.”
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