dpa | US President Donald Trump deepened the cracks in the transatlantic alliance with derogatory comments about the deployment of NATO partners in Afghanistan – and then tried to limit the damage. At least he now praises the British military highly.
“The GREAT and very BRAVE soldiers of the United Kingdom will always stand with the United States of America!” he wrote on his Truth Social platform. In Afghanistan, 457 of them died and many were seriously wounded. “They were among the greatest fighters.”
Trump had previously claimed in an interview with Fox News that the USA never needed NATO. Several other NATO states had sent troops to Afghanistan, but they remained “a little” behind, “a little away from the front lines.”
After the Islamist terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, the USA activated Article Five of the NATO treaty in order to get support from its allies. This led to Germany and other NATO states such as Great Britain taking part in the war against the Taliban and the terrorist organization Al-Qaeda. It was the first and only time in NATO history that such an alliance case was declared.
Outrage from the Prime Minister and Prince Harry
Protests did not only come from Great Britain in response to Trump’s original statements. Prime Minister Keir Starmer criticized the comments as “insulting” and “appalling”. It is not surprising “that they have caused so much pain to the families of those killed and injured and indeed across the country,” Starmer said. If he himself had expressed himself so incorrectly, he would apologize.
Prince Harry, himself an Afghanistan veteran, demanded respect for the sacrifices of the American NATO allies in Afghanistan. “I served there, I made friends for life. And I lost friends,” said Harry, who lives in the USA. “The UK alone lost 457 military personnel.” Thousands of lives were changed forever, parents had to bury their children and children lost their parents.
The British musician Rod Stewart (81) reacted to the US President’s derogatory comments about NATO troops in Afghanistan with a powerful video. He has “great respect for our armed forces who fought and gave us our freedom,” said the musician (“I am sailing”) in reference to the Second World War in the Instagram post. That’s why it hurts him “deeply” when he reads that Trump “criticized our troops in Afghanistan for not being on the front lines.”
“We lost over 400 of our men,” Stewart said. “Think about her parents. Think about it.” Trump almost calls them cowards. That is “unbearable”. “I may just be a humble rock star,” said Stewart, wearing a ruffled white shirt and jacket and standing in front of a fireplace in a lavish room in the Instagram post. But he is also a “knight of the empire” and has his convictions. In 2016, Stewart was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.
Pistorius emphasizes: Germans wounded and died in Afghanistan
Representatives of other countries involved also reacted coolly to indignantly. The German soldiers “fulfilled their mission at great risk to life and limb and under extreme conditions,” said Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) the “image”. “Germany is very grateful to our Bundeswehr for this courage and highly professional commitment.”
For use from 2001 to 2021 Germany paid a high price. “59 soldiers and three police officers died in battles, attacks or accidents. Numerous wounded people still suffer from their injuries from this time,” said Pistorius.
Meloni: “Friendship requires respect”
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni criticized Trump. Such derogatory statements are “unacceptable – especially when they come from an allied nation,” said a statement from the head of government’s office.
Meloni said that after the Islamist terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, NATO activated Article Five of the NATO Treaty for the only time in its history in an “extraordinary act of solidarity with the United States.” Italy reacted immediately and sent thousands of soldiers. Your country paid a high price with dozens of fallen soldiers.
She emphasized that Italy and the USA are linked by a solid friendship based on shared values. “But friendship requires respect – a fundamental requirement to continue to ensure the solidarity that is the foundation of the Atlantic Alliance.”
Lack of understanding in the Netherlands
Dutch Foreign Minister David van Weel told the ANP news agency that the US President had behaved “disrespectfully” with his untrue statements about the deployment of soldiers from other NATO countries in Afghanistan. He pointed to the 25 Dutch soldiers who died in Afghanistan. Those close to French head of state Emmanuel Macron also said that the statements were unacceptable.
For Trump, “America First” also applies to NATO
Trump’s comments followed eventful days in the conflict over Greenland, which is claimed by the US president. The statements from the USA about having to take over the island, which belongs to the Kingdom of Denmark, for the purpose of its own security, presented NATO with a tough test. After a conversation with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Trump initially de-escalated the situation – an agreement is now being discussed, but its form still seems completely open. The conflict has not been resolved.
The US President’s efforts to downplay the efforts of other countries to support the United States fit with his general course with regard to NATO. The US government also made clear its desire to keep its commitment to the defense alliance small compared to protecting its own “homeland” with the publication of its latest national defense strategy. It states that allies in Europe should take the lead on threats that are more serious for them than for the US – “with decisive but limited support from the United States,” the guide says.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth writes in the foreword to the strategy that it is neither the duty nor in the national interest of America to act alone worldwide or to take responsibility for “security policy failures by allies” that are the result of “irresponsible decisions” by their governments. Trump had repeatedly complained that the allies did not pay enough for NATO compared to the USA.
Opposition also from Denmark and Poland
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said, according to the Ritzau news agency, that it was “unacceptable” for the US President to question the efforts of allied soldiers. Frederiksen emphasized that Denmark suffered the greatest losses in terms of population: According to Ritzau, 44 Danish soldiers died, 37 of them as a result of direct combat operations.
Poland’s President Karol Nawrocki wrote on Platform X that there is no doubt that Polish soldiers are heroes. 44 Poles died in Afghanistan, 43 soldiers and one civilian.