Trump leaves NATO allies “confused” and “disgusted” by comments that dismiss sacrifices in Afghanistan.

London – European military veterans, families of the fallen and politicians expressed outrage after President Trump said the US “never needed” its NATO allies, and that allied forces remained “on the front lines” during the 20-year war in Afghanistan.

“The only time NATO ever struck Article 5 was after the terrorist attacks of 9-11 in the United States, and the world came together to support the US,” Alistair Carns, the UK government’s Defense Minister and a veteran who served five tours in Afghanistan with the US military, said in a video posted on Friday on social media. “We shed blood, sweat and tears together, and not all people come home. These are bonds, I think, that are burned, that protect the US or shared interests, but actually protect democracy in general.”

More than 2,200 American soldiers were killed in Afghanistan, according to the Pentagon. Reuters news agency says 457 British soldiers, 150 Canadians and 90 French soldiers died with them. Denmark has lost 44 soldiers in Afghanistan – in per capita terms, about the same death rate as the United States.

“There are two good words to remember,” Carns said in his video in response to Mr. “Number one: ‘There’s only one thing worse than working with partners. That’s working without them.’ And when you do, always remember: ‘Never more, never less, always together.

A spokesman for UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Friday that Mr. Trump, “was wrong to reduce the role of NATO troops” in Afghanistan.

Later on Friday, Starmer called the speech “blasphemous and frankly appalling.”

“We expect an apology for this statement,” Roman Polko, a retired Polish general and former special forces commander who served in Afghanistan and Iraq, told Reuters news agency.

Mr. Trump “crossed a red line,” he said. “We paid in blood for this alliance. We really sacrificed our lives.”

Lucy Aldridge, the mother of a young British soldier killed in Afghanistan, told the BBC she was “absolutely disgusted” by Mr. His son William Aldridge was only 18 years old when he was killed in 2009, trying to save other soldiers.

“The families of those who lost that conflict live with the trauma every day. I’m not just very angry, I’m actually very disgusted,” said Aldridge. “This is not just bad mouthing, he has really offended, I would think, all the members of NATO who have sent soldiers to fight in Afghanistan and certainly the families of those who did not return home.”

The former head of the British Army, Lord Richard Dannatt, called the words of Mr.

“Indeed, one was confused, because they are like that [Mr. Trump’s comments] so it’s really wrong. We have no respect for our nation, our soldiers and the families of the 457 British service men and women who lost their lives in Afghanistan,” Dannatt told the BBC.

“The comments he’s making … are completely disrespectful, wrong and offensive. It makes you wonder if he’s fit to do the job he’s doing,” Dannatt added.

“We Europeans need to do more, and if there’s any good that Donald Trump has done in his various protests over the last year, it’s really made that point,” said the former UK military chief. “European governments must really listen, stand up now and get the money needed to increase our military power, not because we want to fight a war, but we need to stop more violence.”

CBS News asked the White House on Friday about Mr. Trump about the role played by America’s NATO allies in the war in Afghanistan, and the criticism directed at him.

Deputy press secretary Anna Kelly responded with the following statement: “President Trump is right – America’s contributions to NATO are smaller than other countries, and his success in bringing in 5 percent of the money from NATO partners helps Europe bear the burden of defense. The United States is the only NATO partner that can defend Greenlandand the President advances NATO’s interests by doing so.”