Unlock the free White House Watch newsletter
Your guide to what Trump’s second term means for Washington, business and the world
In the latest sign of strain in relations between Washington and its European allies, Downing Street has said US President Donald Trump was “wrong” to claim that NATO troops avoided front-line combat in the war in Afghanistan.
In an interview in Davos on Thursday, Trump said of allies that “they’ll say they sent some troops into Afghanistan… and they did, they stayed a little behind, a little away from the front lines.”
He also told Fox that he was “not sure” NATO would pass the “ultimate test” of protecting the United States if it was in danger.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said on Friday: “The President was wrong to downplay the role of NATO troops, including British forces, in Afghanistan. Following the 9/11 attacks on the US, Article 5 of the NATO treaty was invoked for the first time and British forces have served alongside US and other allied troops in sustained combat operations.”
Asked whether Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer would want Trump to apologise, the government official said, “I’m not going to speak for the president. We’re incredibly proud of our armed forces and their service and sacrifice.”
Downing Street’s intervention came shortly after Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch described Trump’s statement as “absolute nonsense” in a post on X.
He said: “British, Canadian and NATO soldiers fought and died alongside America for 20 years… Their sacrifice deserves respect, not dishonor.”
General Sir Richard Barons, co-author of the UK government’s latest strategic defense review and former commander of Joint Forces Command, told the FT that Trump was “not just wrong, but painfully wrong” in his comments.
Barrons said, “The fact that a US president can talk like this is likely to do more to change the calculus on defense spending and dependence on the US than long papers on defense strategy. There are facts, figures and reasons, but it’s just as much about emotions.”
In a Truth Social post late Thursday night, the US President went even further in questioning NATO, writing that the US “should have tested NATO: invoked Article 5, and forced NATO to come here and defend our southern border from further invasions of illegal immigrants.”
