President Donald Trump has sparked global indignation by suggesting NATO troops avoided frontline combat, minimizing the sacrifice made by America’s allies during the war in Afghanistan.
“We’ve never needed them,” Trump said of non-U.S. soldiers in a Fox Business interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday. “We have never really asked anything of them. You know, they’ll say they sent some troops to Afghanistan or this or that. And they did. They stayed a little back, little off the frontlines.”
Trump cast doubt on NATO’s commitment to the United States, questioning if the alliance would come to America’s defense under adverse circumstances. Article 5, NATO’s collective security agreement, has only been triggered once in the existence of the alliance — in response to the Sept. 11 attacks.
An estimated 3,500 American and NATO troops were killed in the subsequent 20-year war in Afghanistan.
That total included nearly 2,500 Americans; 457 British; 158 Canadians; 90 French; 60 Germans; and 44 Danes, the most per capita outside the U.S.
And other countries sacrificed, too.
NATO’s Chief Mark Rutte, during a bilateral meeting with Trump in Davos, pushed back against the president’s criticism of the alliance’s contribution in Afghanistan.
“There is one thing I heard you say yesterday and today, you were not absolutely sure that Europeans would come to the rescue of the U.S. if you will be attacked,” Rutte said on Wednesday. “Let me tell you, they will. And they did in Afghanistan.”
Rutte went on to remind Trump, “As you know, for every two Americans who paid the ultimate price, there was one soldier from another NATO country who did not come back to his family.”
A retired U.S. admiral who led troops on the frontlines in Afghanistan also rejected Trump’s claim. James Stavridis, former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO from 2009 to 2013, said hundreds of allied troops were killed while serving under his command. “I honor their memory every single day,” he noted.
On the other side of the Atlantic, international leaders said Trump’s remarks appeared to dismiss two decades of allied sacrifice by soldiers who fought and died alongside American forces.
United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer, in a Friday video message, called on Trump to apologize for what he described as “insulting and frankly, appalling” comments. He added: “I’m not surprised they’ve caused such hurt to the loved ones of those who were killed or injured and, in fact, across the country.”
Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk weighed in on the furor by pointing to a farewell ceremony he took part in on Dec. 22, 2011 to honor five fallen Polish soldiers in Afghanistan. Rebuking Trump, he said, “The American officers who accompanied me then told me that America would never forget the Polish heroes. Perhaps they will remind President Trump of that fact.”
And the sacrifice made by French soldiers in Afghanistan “commands respect,” France’s Defense Minister Catherine Vautrin asserted.
The White House on Friday stood by Trump’s characterization of NATO, emphasizing the disparities within the transatlantic alliance.
“President Trump is right — America’s contributions to NATO dwarf that of other countries,” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said in a statement to Military Times, without addressing the NATO death toll in Afghanistan.
“His success in delivering a five percent spending pledge from NATO allies is helping Europe take greater responsibility for its own defense,” she continued. “The United States is the only NATO partner who can protect Greenland, and the President is advancing NATO interests in doing so.”
Tanya Noury is a reporter for Military Times and Defense News, with coverage focusing on the White House and Pentagon.