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By Shane Croucher
Senior Editor
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The British government hit back at President Donald Trump's downplaying of the role of NATO allies in the Afghanistan War, calling them "just wrong" and accusing him of "diminishing sacrifice."
The White House told Newsweek that Trump is "right" and that the U.S. contributions to NATO "dwarf that of other countries" in the alliance.
Trump had told Fox News in an interview that the U.S. had "never really asked anything of" its NATO allies and questioned if they would come to America's aid if called.
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The U.S. is the only NATO member ever to have invoked Article 5, which it did in response to the 9/11 terror attacks in 2001, and allies sent troops to support the resultant war in Afghanistan.
"They'll say they sent some troops to Afghanistan," Trump said in the interview. "And they did, they stayed a little back, a little off the front lines."
Tensions have flared lately between the U.S. and its NATO allies over Greenland, the Russia-Ukraine war, and levels of defense spending.
The various clashes have called into question the future of the transatlantic alliance, originally formed to counter the Soviet Union and which has been the foundation of European security since the end of the Second World War.
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U.K. Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper hit back at Trump's comments in a post on X.
"British & NATO troops fought side by side with our American friends in Afghanistan. To suggest otherwise is just wrong," Cooper said, sharing a video from the British armed forces minister, Al Carns, who is a veteran of the conflict.
"Our whole country honours their courage and sacrifice and we honour and respect that of our allies."
In Afghanistan, 457 British troops died and many more were seriously wounded in the fighting against the Taliban and al-Qaeda.
A spokesperson for British Prime Minister Keir Starmer also took aim at Trump for his remarks on Afghanistan.
"Trump was wrong in diminishing sacrifice as part of NATO in Afghanistan," the spokesperson said, per Sky News.
"The president was wrong to diminish the role of troops, including British forces."
They added: "Many suffered life-changing injuries, their sacrifice and others were made in service of security and in response to an attack on an ally."
Anna Kelly, a spokeswoman for the White House, told Newsweek in a statement: “President Trump is right–America’s contributions to NATO dwarf that of other countries, and his success in delivering a five percent spending pledge from NATO allies is helping Europe take greater responsibility for its own defense."
Western troops drove the Taliban from power in the Afghanistan war and NATO forces remained there to support the new government with counterinsurgency operations, state-building, and training local security forces.
But after a chaotic U.S. withdrawal in 2021, two decades on from the war's beginning, the Taliban swept back to power.
Update, 1/23/26, 9:15 a.m. ET: This article was updated with a comment from the White House.
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