Donald Trump U-turn on UK troop comments after King sent message | Politics | News
King Charles reportedly expressed his “concern” in a message to President Donald Trump hours before the US leader backtracked on offensive comments that British and NATO troops were “slightly behind” the front line during wars fought alongside America.
The US president sparked outrage earlier this week when he told Fox News that America “never needed” its NATO partners and said allied troops were “a little bit left behind.” Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer described the remarks as “insulting and frankly appalling” and officials confirmed he made the comments directly to the US president in a call on Saturday.
However, it has now been revealed that King Charles also intervened in the incident and conveyed a message to Trump through private channels connecting the Monarch and the White House.
The sun is reporting A British official said the King, as Commander-in-Chief of the country’s Armed Forces, wanted to convey his pride in the British military’s “proud history of service and sacrifice”.
The source added: “It has become very clear that the King’s concern about the pain stemmed from the comments, whether unintentional or not.”
A few hours ago (January 24) Trump published a new post on his social media channels praising the UK and the military. He wrote: “The great and very brave soldiers of the United Kingdom will always be with the United States of America!
“457 men died in Afghanistan, many seriously wounded, and they were among the best of all warriors. It is a bond too strong to ever be broken. The UK Army, with its tremendous heart and soul, is second to none (except the USA!).”
“We love you all and always will!”
The Duke of Sussex also weighed in on the comments, saying the “sacrifice” of British soldiers “deserves to be talked about accurately and respectfully”.
Armed Forces Minister and former commando Al Carns, who served five tours of duty in Afghanistan, described Mr Trump’s comments as “ridiculous”. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said Mr Trump’s comments were “complete nonsense” and added that it was “a disgrace” to “denigrate” the memory of British soldiers who died in conflict.
On Saturday, he shared on
He added: “He should never have been questioned in the first place.”
With 2,461 deaths in the conflicts in Afghanistan, Britain became the country with the second highest number of military deaths (457) after the USA. In total, America’s allies suffered 1,160 deaths in the conflict; this is approximately one-third of total coalition deaths.
Trump has previously been criticized for avoiding the draft to fight in Vietnam because he was diagnosed with bone spurs in his heels, a claim that is also subject to doubt.
