Trump’s Comments on NATO Troops Spark Outrage Across UK Political Spectrum

Sir Keir Starmer has condemned US President Donald Trump for “diminishing” Britain’s war dead after Trump falsely claimed NATO troops avoided front-line combat in Afghanistan. The Prime Minister joined a chorus of outrage from veterans, politicians, and military officials responding to comments that have strained relations with key allies.

Speaking through an official spokesperson, Starmer said Trump “was wrong to diminish the role of NATO troops, including British forces, in Afghanistan” and emphasized that their “service and sacrifice will never be forgotten.”

Trump provoked the controversy during a Fox News interview where he questioned NATO’s reliability, stating: “They’ll say they sent some troops to Afghanistan… and they did, they stayed a little back, a little off the front lines.” The comments have touched a particularly sensitive nerve in Britain, which suffered 457 military deaths in the conflict—the second-highest casualty count among coalition forces.

Former First Sea Lord Admiral Lord West, who coordinated naval activity in Afghanistan, called Trump’s remarks “disgraceful,” telling The Independent: “It is wrong and a disgraceful thing for anyone to say, let alone the head of state of an allied nation.”

Defence Secretary John Healey described the fallen British troops as “heroes who gave their lives in service of our nation,” while Defence Minister Al Carns, a veteran of five tours in Afghanistan, invited skeptics to “come have a whisky with me, my colleagues, their families, and importantly, the families of those that have made the ultimate sacrifice for both of our nations.”

The controversy has united Britain’s normally divided political landscape. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch condemned Trump’s claims as “flat-out nonsense,” noting that “British, Canadian, and NATO troops fought and died alongside the US for 20 years.” Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey referenced Trump’s own military service record, saying: “Trump avoided military service five times. How dare he question their sacrifice.”

Care Minister Stephen Kinnock pointed out the irony in Trump’s comments, noting that “the only time that Article 5 has been invoked was to go to the aid of the United States after 9/11.” NATO’s Article 5 provision, which treats an attack on one member as an attack on all, has only been triggered once in the alliance’s history—following the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States.

According to veterans’ charity Help for Heroes, more than 1,100 non-US coalition fighters died in the conflict that began in 2001, with NATO countries accounting for the overwhelming majority. American forces suffered 2,461 deaths.

The human cost was emphasized by Lucy Aldridge, mother of Rifleman William Aldridge who died in Afghanistan at age 18. She told The Mirror that Trump’s comments were “extremely upsetting” and demonstrated “no compassion whatsoever for anyone who doesn’t serve him.”

Conservative MP Ben Obese-Jecty, who served in Afghanistan as a captain in the Royal Yorkshire Regiment, expressed dismay at seeing “our nation’s sacrifice, and that of our NATO partners, held so cheaply by the president of the United States.” He added: “I saw first-hand the sacrifices made by British soldiers I served alongside in Sangin, where we suffered horrific casualties, as did the US Marines the following year.”

Labour MP Calvin Bailey, a former RAF officer decorated with the US Air Medal for his service alongside American special operations units in Afghanistan, struck a more diplomatic tone: “The first reaction is to be angry, but some international relationships are enduring and you have to rise above it… I served with Americans; they are my friends. They told me to rise above those comments.”

As tensions rise, government sources indicate the Prime Minister “will make his views very plain and clear” to Trump on the issue, highlighting the delicate balance British leadership must strike with its most important military ally despite the provocative rhetoric.