After claiming that British troops ‘stayed slightly off the frontlines’ in Afghanistan, Donald Trump has backtracked – due to the intervention of King Charles.
Trump’s claims that the US ‘never needed’ UK troops infuriated veterans this weekend.
He said: ‘They’ll say they sent some troops to Afghanistan… they usually did, they stayed slightly back, slightly off the frontlines.’
Just 48 hours after making the shocking comments, Trump made a brand new post saying UK troops were ‘among the many best of all warriors’ after King Charles and Keir Starmer spoke to him.
A source told The Sun King Charles reached out personally to talk to Trump, adding: ‘It was made very clear that the King’s concern over the hurt had been brought on by the comments, whether inadvertent or not.’
Trump later clarified: ‘It’s a bond too strong to ever be broken. The UK Military, with tremendous Heart and Soul, is second to none (apart from the USA!). We love you all, and at all times will! President Donald J Trump.’
A Downing Street spokesperson said Trump and Starmer spoke on the phone shortly before his apparent apologetic post.
‘The Prime Minister raised the brave and heroic British and American soldiers who fought side by side in Afghanistan, a lot of whom never returned home. We mustn’t ever forget their sacrifice, he said.’
The encounter comes just days after a royal expert suggested to Metro that King Charles may very well be the UK’s secret weapon when it got here to placating Trump.
It’s well-known that Trump has an infatuation with the Royal family – something royal expert Duncan Larcombe thinks is because of his mother’s Scottish roots, and his own business interests within the UK.
‘For Trump, the ‘Special Relationship’ is something he holds quite dear. But Trump shall be Trump,’ Larcombe told Metro.
The King is because of visit america in April, a visit which some have suggested ought to be cancelled over Trump’s tariff threats regarding Greenland.
Larcombe said that in a US visit, it might be right down to Charles personally to ‘test the waters’ with Trump.
‘In the event that they find yourself having a full and frank conversation, who knows what Charles might say?
‘The King doesn’t have the identical power his mother had. But with a president who’s so friendly toward Britain and the Royal Family, there may be every likelihood Donald Trump might take heed to him,’ he added.
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