Last week, Donald Trump waddled into Davos and made a horse’s ass out of himself in about a million different ways. He has completely ruined all of America’s strategic partnerships and relationships within Europe, especially within NATO. Well, on Thursday, Trump farted and sh-t his way through a Fox News exclusive interview. That was when he decided to trash America’s NATO allies, the same allies who spilled blood alongside Americans in Afghanistan following the September 11th terrorist attacks. This is what Trump said to Fox News, regarding our NATO allies:
“I’ve always said, ‘Will they be there, if we ever needed them?’ And that’s really the ultimate test. And I’m not sure of that. I know that we would have been there, or we would be there, but will they be there? We’ve never needed them. 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, a little off the front lines.”
After 9/11, NATO invoked Article 5, meaning NATO countries immediately sent troops to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Americans. Britain lost 457 soldiers in two decades just in Afghanistan. Denmark lost 44 soldiers in Afghanistan. Other NATO countries lost men and women in Afghanistan as well. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that Trump’s comments were “insulting and frankly appalling.” But one of the first people to clap back on Trump was not a world leader or diplomat. It was Prince Harry. Harry served two tours in Afghanistan, and his experiences in a theater of war directly led to Harry founding the Invictus Games. This is what Harry had to say:
“In 2001, Nato invoked Article 5 for the first – and only – time in history. It meant that every allied nation was obliged to stand with the United States in Afghanistan, in pursuit of our shared security. Allies answered that call.”
I served there. I made lifelong friends there. And I lost friends there. The United Kingdom alone had 457 service personnel killed.”
Thousands of lives were changed forever. Mothers and fathers buried sons and daughters. Children were left without a parent. Families are left carrying the cost. Those sacrifices deserve to be spoken about truthfully and with respect, as we all remain united and loyal to the defence of diplomacy and peace.”
I’m sure Trump’s comments would have been headline news regardless, but Harry issued his statement mid-day on Friday and after that, it became a much, much bigger story. Trump regularly insults American servicemen and veterans – he thinks people are “losers” for devoting themselves to military service or public service – but he’s really bending over backwards to denigrate our closest allies, the men and women who have given the last full sacrifice in the cause of peace and security for all. Harry is an absolute badass for coming out and saying this too. Meanwhile, his father (the actual commander-in-chief of the British Armed Services) couldn’t be bothered.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
