King Charles is reported to have expressed “concern” in a message to President Donald Trump hours before the US leader backtracked on offensive comments made about British and NATO troops being “a little back” from the front line during wars fought alongside America.
The US president provoked outrage earlier this week when he told Fox News that America had “never needed” its Nato partners, adding that its allied troops had “stayed a little back”. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer described the remarks as “insulting and frankly appalling”, and officials confirmed he had raised the comments directly with the US president in a conversation on Saturday.
But now it’s emerged King Charles is also understood to have intervened and relayed a message to Trump through private channels connecting the Monarch and the White House.
The Sun reports a British official said the King, who is Commander-in-Chief of the nation’s Armed Forces, wanted to relay his pride in the British military’s “proud record of service and sacrifice”.
The source added: “It was made very clear that the King’s concern over the hurt had been caused by the comments whether inadvertent or not.”
Several hours ago (January 24) Trump released a new post on his social media channels which heaped praise upon Britain and the military. He wrote: “The great and very brave soldiers of the United Kingdom will always be with the United States of America!
“In Afghanistan, 457 died, many were badly injured, and they were among the greatest of all warriors. It’s a bond too strong to ever be broken. The UK Military, with tremendous Heart and Soul, is second to none (except for the USA!).
“We love you all, and always will!”
The Duke of Sussex also weighed in on the comments and said the “sacrifices” of British soldiers “deserve to be spoken about truthfully and with respect”.
Armed forces minister and former commando Al Carns, who served five tours in Afghanistan, described Mr Trump’s comments as “ridiculous”. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said Mr Trump’s comments were “complete nonsense”, adding that it is a “disgrace” to “denigrate” the memory of British soldiers who died in the conflict.
On Saturday, she posted on X that she was “pleased” the president has “now acknowledged the role of the British armed forces and those brave men and women who gave their lives fighting alongside the US and our allies”.
She added: “It should never have been questioned in the first place.”
The UK suffered the second highest number of military deaths – 457 – in the Afghanistan conflict, behind the US, which saw 2,461 deaths. In total, America’s allies suffered 1,160 deaths in the conflict, around a third of the total coalition deaths.
Trump has previously been criticised for avoiding being conscripted to fight in Vietnam thanks to being diagnosed with bone spurs in his heels – a claim that has been subject to doubt.