Donald Trump has renewed his attack against European and Nato allies by claiming their militaries avoided the front lines of the war in Afghanistan.
In an interview broadcast on Thursday, the US president also alleged that America “never needed” support from European armed forces during the US-led invasion.
[Mr Trump](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/donald-trump/) made the comments after giving a speech in Davos on Wednesday in which he said he was “not sure” Nato would be “there for us if we gave them the call”, prompting a robust response from Mark Rutte, the alliance’s secretary-general.
On Thursday, speaking to Fox News, the US president reiterated: “I’ve always said, will they be there if we ever needed them? That’s really the ultimate test, and I’m not sure of that.
“We’ve never needed them. They’ll say they sent some troops to [Afghanistan](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/afghanistan/)… and they did, they stayed a little back, a little off the front lines.”
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***The Telegraph reports:***
Donald Trump has renewed his attack against European and Nato allies by claiming their militaries avoided the front lines of the war in Afghanistan.
In an interview broadcast on Thursday, the US president also alleged that America “never needed” support from European armed forces during the US-led invasion.
[Mr Trump](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/donald-trump/) made the comments after giving a speech in Davos on Wednesday in which he said he was “not sure” Nato would be “there for us if we gave them the call”, prompting a robust response from Mark Rutte, the alliance’s secretary-general.
On Thursday, speaking to Fox News, the US president reiterated: “I’ve always said, will they be there if we ever needed them? That’s really the ultimate test, and I’m not sure of that.
“We’ve never needed them. They’ll say they sent some troops to [Afghanistan](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/afghanistan/)… and they did, they stayed a little back, a little off the front lines.”
**Read more:** [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/01/22/rutte-confronts-trump-over-dead-nato-soldiers/](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/01/22/rutte-confronts-trump-over-dead-nato-soldiers/)