Trump’s praise comes after the British prime minister called the US leader’s comments “insulting” and suggested he apologize.
Published January 24, 2026
US President Donald Trump has praised British soldiers, a day after receiving an unusual rebuke from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer over comments that European troops were staying “some distance from the front lines” in the war in Afghanistan.
In what appeared to be an attempt to ease tensions with Mr Starmer, Mr Trump acknowledged on social media on Saturday that 457 British soldiers had been killed and many others seriously injured in Afghanistan, describing them as “some of the greatest of all warriors”.
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“The great and brave British soldiers are always with the United States of America!” he wrote. “It’s a bond too strong that can never be broken.”
Mr Starmer said on Friday that President Trump’s comments on Fox News about the area surrounding the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, were “derogatory and frankly appalling”.
Asked if he would demand an apology from President Trump, Starmer said: “If I had made that gaffe, if I had said those words, I certainly would have apologized.”
A statement from Starmer’s office said Trump’s response stopped short of an apology, but an olive branch was extended after meeting with the British leader earlier Saturday.
“The Prime Minister raised the courage and heroic British and American soldiers who fought alongside him in Afghanistan, many of whom never returned home,” the statement said. “We must never forget their sacrifices,” he said.
King Charles’ second son Prince Harry, who served twice in Afghanistan, also spoke out on Friday, saying the “sacrifice” of British soldiers during the war “must be told with truth and respect”.
Britain was not the only NATO ally to express anger at Trump’s comments. Other European leaders also reacted sharply on Saturday, including Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and French President Emmanuel Macron.
In addition to U.S. and British troops, militaries from dozens of other countries also participated, including NATO, whose Article 5 collective security clause was first invoked after the attacks on New York and Washington in September 2001.
More than 150 Canadians were killed in Afghanistan, along with 90 French soldiers and dozens of others from Germany, Italy, Denmark and other countries.
The United States reportedly lost more than 2,400 soldiers.
At least 46,319 Afghan civilians died as a direct result of the 2001 invasion, according to 2021 estimates by Brown University’s Cost of War Project.
