In a dramatic U-turn within hours of sparking diplomatic backlash, US President Donald Trump struck a conciliatory note, publicly praising British soldiers.
After drawing sharp criticism from the UK for suggesting British troops stayed away from frontlines in Afghanistan, Trump praised them as "the greatest warriors." In his post now, Trump wrote: "The GREAT and very BRAVE soldiers of the United Kingdom will always be with the United States of America!" "In Afghanistan, 457 died, many were badly injured, and they were among the greatest of all warriors. It's a bond too strong to ever be broken," he added. He called the UK military “second to none (except for the U.S.A.!)”, finishing with: “We love you all, and always will!” Trump's U-turn on British soldiers comes after UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer demanded an apology for his false assertion that troops from non-US NATO countries avoided the front line during the Afghanistan war. He said that Trump's remarks as "insulting" and "appalling." "I will never forget their courage, their bravery and the sacrifice they made for their country," Starmer said. "I consider President Trump's remarks to be insulting and frankly appalling and I am not surprised they have caused such hurt to the loved ones of those who were killed or injured and, in fact, across the country." Without naming Trump, Prince Harry weighed in to the furor too, saying the "sacrifices" of British soldiers during the war "deserve to be spoken about truthfully and with respect."
Earlier this week, Trump said that he wasn't sure NATO would be there to support the United States if and when requested. "We've never needed them, we have never really asked anything of them," Trump said of non-US troops in an interview with Fox News in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday.
"You know, 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."
It wasn't the first time that Trump downplayed the commitment of NATO countries over the past few days. It has been one of his pivotal lines of attack as he escalated his threats to seize Greenland, a semiautonomous territory belonging to Denmark.
