Danish PM says Trump feedback on NATO position in Afghanistan ‘unacceptable’

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen on Saturday (January 23, 2026) slammed U.S. President Donald Trump for saying NATO allies had shied away from the entrance line in Afghanistan.

“I totally perceive that Danish veterans have stated no phrases can describe how a lot this hurts,” she stated on Fb. “It’s unacceptable that the American President questions the dedication of allied troopers in Afghanistan,” she added.

The Danish Veterans Affiliation earlier stated it was “confused”.

“Denmark has all the time stood by the US, and we’ve proven up in disaster zones world wide when the US requested us to,” the affiliation stated in an announcement.

Danish veterans are calling for a silent march in Copenhagen on January 31 to protest Mr. Trump’s remarks.

“Denmark is without doubt one of the NATO international locations that has suffered the very best losses per capita,” the Danish Prime Minister underscored.

Denmark’s inhabitants was about 5.4 million in 2003 and, based on the Danish information company Ritzau, round 12,000 Danish troopers and civilians have been despatched to Afghanistan over time.

“My ideas are with the veterans, your households, and your family members, who by no means deserved this,” she added.

In an interview with Fox Information aired on Thursday (January 22, 2026), Mr. Trump stated NATO will “say they despatched some troops to Afghanistan.”

“They usually did, they stayed just a little again, just a little off the entrance traces,” he added, triggering outrage in Britain, which misplaced 457 troopers through the NATO mission in Afghanistan.

Troopers from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Denmark and others additionally died within the battle.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer stated on Friday (January 23, 2026): “I take into account President Trump’s remarks to be insulting and albeit, appalling, and I am not shocked they’ve brought on such damage to the family members of those that had been killed or injured.”

The White Home rejected Mr. Starmer’s feedback and defended Trump.

“President Trump is completely proper — the US of America has carried out extra for NATO than every other nation within the alliance has carried out mixed,” Taylor Rogers, a White Home spokeswoman, stated in an announcement despatched to AFP.