Prince Harry on Friday rebuked President Donald Trump's comments dismissing NATO allies and spoke out about sacrifices among those who fought alongside the United States.
The Duke of Sussex served in the British Army for a decade and did two tours in Afghanistan, among many of the service members who answered the call to serve after NATO invoked Article 5 under the mutual defense agreement following the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, NBC News reported.
“I served there. I made lifelong friends there. And I lost friends there. The United Kingdom alone had 457 service personnel killed,” he said. “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 defense of diplomacy and peace,” the Duke of Sussex said.
In an interview Thursday with Fox News from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Trump questioned NATO allies' reliability, and claimed the U.S. "never needed them" and that allies sent troops to Afghanistan but "stayed a little back, a little off the front lines." Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk also hit back at Trump's statement.
"The American officers who accompanied me then, told me that America would never forget the Polish heroes. Perhaps they will remind President Trump of that fact," Tusk wrote on X.
Several other European leaders have spoken out in response against Trump's comments, including UK Prime Minister Kier Starmer, who called the president's statements "insulting and frankly, appalling."