Ministers in Germany and France sharply criticized US President Donald Trump after he said the US had “never needed” its European NATO allies and suggested non-US troops in Afghanistan had “stayed a little back” from the frontlines. Trump’s remarks came despite the fact that the US is the only NATO member to have invoked the alliance’s Article 5 mutual defense clause.
Germany’s Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said Trump should apologize, while adding that he did not expect one. “It would be a sign of decency, of respect and of insight,” Pistorius told ARD television. “But we all know how the US president operates.” He rejected Trump’s account as inaccurate, saying, “To talk this way about allies is simply indecent and disrespectful. Everyone stood there, stood at the US’ side. To assert otherwise today is simply not true.”
Although Germany’s postwar constitution limited early deployments, the Bundeswehr became one of the largest European contributors to the roughly two-decade mission in Afghanistan after the Taliban were ousted in 2001. In total, 59 Bundeswehr soldiers were killed and about 500 wounded. Former German defense minister and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen made multiple visits to German troops during that mission.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, speaking at the European Parliament in Brussels, said he had stressed to Trump the price paid by allies in Afghanistan. “For every two American soldiers who paid the ultimate price, one soldier of an ally or a partner, a NATO ally or a partner country, did not return home,” Rutte said, adding that he knew America appreciated the efforts.
In Paris, a senior government official laid a wreath at a monument to those who died in overseas operations. French Defense Ministry delegate Alice Rufo said the ceremony had been organized at short notice in response to Trump’s comments to show that “we do not accept that their memory be insulted.”
Trump made the remarks in an interview with Fox News after a fraught week in Switzerland tied to his public campaign to acquire Greenland and a vague follow-up agreement involving Denmark. “We’ve never needed them. We have never really asked anything of them,” Trump said. “And they’ll say they sent some troops to Afghanistan, or this or that. And they did — they stayed a little back, a little off the front lines.”
Dozens of NATO members deployed to Afghanistan after the September 11, 2001 attacks. Danish troops, for example, fought and died in Helmand province, one of the most dangerous regions, where British-led allied forces operated. Denmark’s 44 deaths in Afghanistan, when adjusted for its population of roughly 6 million, represent a casualty ratio similar to the United States’.
The UK and Australia also publicly criticized Trump’s comments. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and concerns reportedly conveyed by King Charles prompted what appeared to be a partial walkback on social media. Trump posted on Truth Social that “The GREAT and very BRAVE soldiers of the United Kingdom will always be with the United States of America!” and acknowledged that 457 UK forces died in Afghanistan and many were badly injured, calling them “among the greatest of all warriors.”
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called the remarks “completely unacceptable,” saying families of Australian soldiers killed in Afghanistan would likely be hurt. “The bravery that was shown by 40,000 Australians [who] served in Afghanistan, they were certainly on the frontlines in order to, along with our other allies, defend democracy and freedom and to defend our national interests,” Albanese said. “They deserve our respect.”
Edited by: Darko Janjevic