Donald Trump has again disparaged America’s Nato allies, claiming that troops from allied nations “stayed a little back, a little off the frontlines” while fighting in Afghanistan in support of the US campaign against the Taliban.
The only time Nato has ever invoked its mutual defence clause – stating that an attack on one member represents an attack on all – came after the terrorist attacks of September 11, when member states deployed thousands of troops to Afghanistan.
More than a thousand non-US service members were killed in the conflict, and Trump’s comments are likely to further heighten tensions between the US and its allies.
As he ratchets up his grievances against Nato, of which the US is a founding member, Trump has repeatedly questioned whether the 31 other nations that make up the alliance would come to the US’s defence.
Speaking to Fox News on Thursday, Trump said he was “not sure” Nato would meet the “ultimate test” of defending the US if it were under threat.
“We’ve never needed them … They’ll say they sent some troops to Afghanistan … and they did, they stayed a little back, a little off the frontlines,” he said, adding the US has been “very good to Europe and to many other countries. It has to be a two-way street.”
Those remarks follow similar comments earlier in the week, when he described the alliance as “overrated” and questioned its members’ willingness to respond to a crisis.
“I know we’ll come to [Nato’s] rescue, but I just really do question whether or not they’ll come to ours,” he said before attending the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Trump continued his campaign late on Thursday, posting on Truth Social: “Maybe we should have put NATO to the test: Invoked Article 5, and forced NATO to come here and protect our Southern Border from further Invasions of Illegal Immigrants, thus freeing up large numbers of Border Patrol Agents for other tasks.”
A total of 3,486 Nato troops died in the 20-year conflict, of which the majority, 2,461, were US service members.
Four hundred and fifty-seven British troops died, while another 2,000 military and civilian personnel were wounded in action.
Canada, long the US’s closest ally and largest trading partner, suffered 165 deaths, including civilians. Canada’s 12-year deployment was the country’s longest combat mission, with more than 40,000 personnel, and the deadliest since the Korean war in the 1950s.
Other Nato allies, including Italy, Germany and France, also had soldiers who died.
Trump has singled out Denmark, which controls Greenland – a territory the US president has said Washington “must” take over” – as being “ungrateful” for US protection during the second world war. Denmark suffering 44 combat deaths iin Afghanistan, the most per capita outside the US.
Following Trump’s claims earlier in the week, the Nato secretary general, Mark Rutte, told Trump members of the alliance “will” defend the US, pointing out they “did” in Afghanistan.
“For every two Americans who paid the ultimate price, there was one soldier from another Nato country who did not come back to his family – from the Netherlands, from Denmark and particularly from other countries,” said Rutte.
“You can be assured, absolutely, if ever the United States was under attack, your allies will be with you,” said Rutte. “There is an absolute guarantee. I really want to tell you that, because it pains me if you think it is not.”
In the days since the president’s remarks, users on Reddit have posted pictures of veterans in combat, as well as flag draped coffins of soldiers who died “while doing nothing” for America.
In one instance, a photograph shows a bridge lined with mourners in Ontario with the caption: “Welcoming home a young Canadian that was killed in Afghanistan while doing nothing for the USA.”
