00:00I consider President Trump's remarks to be insulting and, frankly, appalling.
00:06British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Friday blasted comments from U.S. President Donald
00:11Trump about NATO troops in Afghanistan, where he claimed they stayed off the front lines
00:15in an interview on Fox Business Network's Mornings with Maria.
00:19We've never needed them.
00:20We have never really asked anything of them.
00:23You know, they'll say they sent some troops to Afghanistan or this or that, and they did.
00:27They stayed a little back, a little off the front lines.
00:30But we've been very good to Europe and to many other countries.
00:33Let me start by paying tribute to the 457 of our armed services who lost their lives in Afghanistan.
00:42I will never forget their courage, their bravery, and the sacrifice that they made for their country.
00:50There are many also who were injured, some with life-changing injuries.
00:56And so I consider President Trump's remarks to be insulting and, frankly, appalling.
01:01And I'm not surprised they've caused such hurt to the loved ones of those who were killed
01:07or injured, and, in fact, across the country.
01:10Well, I've made my position clear.
01:13And what I say to Diane is if I had misspoken in that way or said those words, I would certainly
01:20apologise, and I'd apologise to her.
01:24We have a very close relationship with the US, and that is important for our security,
01:30for our defence and our intelligence.
01:32And it's very important we maintain that relationship.
01:36But it is because of that relationship that we fought alongside the Americans for our values
01:42in Afghanistan.
01:43And it was in that context that people lost their lives or suffered terrible injuries, fighting
01:51for freedom, fighting with our allies for what we believe in.
01:55The UK lost 457 service personnel in Afghanistan, its deadliest overseas war since the 1950s.
02:03And Starmer was not alone in condemning the American president's remarks.
02:07His retired British Colonel Stuart Toodle.
02:09My message to Donald Trump would be that you need to turn around and say these were unfortunate
02:14remarks.
02:15I didn't mean to denigrate the contribution that certainly the United Kingdom has made
02:21to the United States fighting on operations in places like Iraq, Afghanistan, and other
02:27theatres.
02:28Trump's comments added to already strained relations with NATO allies over his ambition
02:33to acquire Greenland.
02:35Under NATO's founding treaty, members are bound by a collective defence clause in the
02:39known as Article 5, which treats an attack on one member as an attack on all.
02:44British Armed Forces Minister Al Karn said the only time NATO invoked Article 5 was after
02:49the September 11th attacks.
02:51Several other countries lost troops in Afghanistan, including Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and
02:57Denmark.
02:58We fought and bled alongside our American brothers in arms, so it's sad to hear these words.
03:08Danish military veteran Niels Jespersen served in Afghanistan, and he said the names of three
03:13members of his unit are inscribed on the walls of his monument in Denmark honoring fallen soldiers.
03:18It saddens me, but if anyone knows something about staying away from the front line, it is Trump, so he does talk with some expertise in that area, but I think it mostly saddens me.
03:30I know that they don't represent all Americans, but I also know that some of my former colleagues have voted for Trump and probably not because they wanted him to belittle his allies, but nonetheless, here we are.
Comments