Helena Humphrey
Reporting from Washington

"We see you. We know you were right there with us."

That was the message from Shawn VanDiver, a US Navy veteran, after President Trump claimed Nato allies "stayed a little back" from the front lines during the war in Afghanistan.

VanDiver, who served off the coast of Iraq and now leads Afghan EVAC, a group that helps Afghan wartime allies resettle, tells the BBC the president’s comments were "just not true", saying Nato forces fought "right alongside American forces" in Afghanistan and beyond.

"We could not have accomplished what we did without them," he tells me.

"I recall numerous times working alongside British troops while I served in the military, and I’m pissed off that the president would diminish their contributions," he says, adding many American veterans would feel the same way, given the close bonds forged in combat.

Asked how British families who lost loved ones in Afghanistan might be feeling, VanDiver said they would likely feel "betrayed", adding: "What I would say to those families is I’m sorry."

The British Army's former top bomb disposal officer in Afghanistan says he is "dismayed" by Trump's "callous" remarks.

Bob Seddon was the principal ammunition technical officer (PATO) in Afghanistan from 2008 to 2011.

He tells the BBC the British bomb disposal teams did "phenomenally dangerous" work alongside members of the Danish Battalion, as the Taliban increasingly made use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

"Six of my operators from the Royal Logistic Corps were killed in action," he says. "A number of the supporting Royal Engineer Search Team members were also killed in action and others sustained grievous injuries."

"I have spoken in the last few days to some of my former soldiers and officers and they have told me they cannot listen to the news on this subject as it is too distressing," he says

He implored the president to speak to those in the US Armed Forces who worked with Nato allies in Afghanistan and to "understand the effect this has on the families of those who were killed in action".

Adam Easton
Warsaw Correspondent

Image source, Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Polish defence minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz says the contribution of Polish troops in Afghanistan "must not be diminished".

More than 33,000 Polish troops and military personnel served in Afghanistan, and 43 Polish soldiers and one civilian employee were killed there.

Writing on X, the minister says: "Poland has always been, is, and will be a responsible and reliable ally that, at the moment when security is threatened, stands in its defence."

“The Polish Army, arm in arm with its allies, took part, among others, in missions in Afghanistan and Iraq. It is present today in missions and operations conducted by Nato,” he adds.

"Tragic moments, when our soldiers died, showed that in defence of international security, of Poland’s security, we are ready to pay the highest price. This sacrifice will never be forgotten and must not be diminished. Poland is a reliable and proven ally, and nothing will change that,” he says.

Polish foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski says Polish soldiers served on the front line in Afghanistan, adding "no one has the right to mock the service of our soldiers”.

It's put to Starmer that Diane Dernie, mother of former British paratrooper Ben Parkinson who was badly injured in Afghanistan, has said Starmer should demand an apology from Trump.

“I’ve made my position clear, and what I say to Diane is, if I had misspoken in that way or said those words, I would certainly apologise and I’d apologise to her," Starmer says.

He also reiterates the UK and US have a "very close" relationship - one which, he says, is important for security and defence.

The prime minister says that it is because of that relationship that the two nations "fought alongside" each other in Afghanistan.

"It was in that context that people lost their lives or suffered terrible injuries fighting for freedom, fighting with our allies for what we believe in," Starmer says.

We can bring you more now from Starmer's remarks to broadcasters, responding to Trump's comments about the role of Nato allies in Afghanistan.

The prime minister pays tribute to the 457 members of the British armed forces who died in Afghanistan and those injured, and says he will never forget their sacrifice and bravery.

He says he is "not surprised they have caused such hurt", Starmer adds.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer says Donald Trump's remarks about British troops in Afghanistan were "insulting and frankly appalling", and suggests the US president should apologise.

We'll have more of the PM's comments to broadcasters shortly.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the White House

I've just been exchanging messages with an acquaintance of mine named Mick Mulroy, a former US Marine, CIA paramilitary officer and one-time deputy assistant secretary of defence at the Pentagon.

Mulroy fought in both Iraq and Afghanistan, and tells me he "stood ramp-side during the dignified transfer of the fallen soldiers as they returned to their home countries in Europe".

"I can say unequivocally that our Nato partners served with courage and dedication on the front lines," he adds.

As others say, Mulroy notes that the only time Article 5 of the Nato treaty has been invoked was following the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington in 2001.

"All Americans should honour the sacrifices our Nato allies made during those 20 years in combat," he adds. "They [Nato allies] have the right to be angry."

White House response will be seen by many as doubling downpublished at 15:42 GMT

15:42 GMT

Tom Bateman
US State Department correspondent

The question that we put to the White House was specifically about the UK reaction, the sense of outrage that is being expressed across the political spectrum across the UK.

This has been from politicians, but importantly from veterans, the families of the dead, from wounded service personnel who fought in Afghanistan.

We put that to the White House, and the statement from Keir Starmer, and the response we got from Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly doesn't address specifically what Donald Trump said yesterday.

What you're seeing from their response is answering a different question from the one that was asked.

That will be seen by many as them doubling down on what Trump has said. As we've been hearing, his comments have been seen as insensitive, insulting and ignorant when it comes to the contribution of Nato forces in Afghanistan.

The White House is trying to frame all this, as Trump himself has in the past, as a negotiating tactic to get other Nato countries to pull their weight. He has repeatedly suggested the US doesn’t need the rest of Nato.

Rebecca Curran
BBC Scotland

The mother of a Scottish soldier killed in Afghanistan describes Trump's comments as "soul-destroying".

Sean Binnie was a 22-year-old acting sergeant when he was killed while on patrol with the Black Watch in Helmand Province in May 2009.

He was shot dead after he threw a grenade while fighting insurgents. He had been married to his wife Amanda for just six months.

Speaking about the president's comments, Janette Binnie, 58, of Crimond in Aberdeenshire, tells BBC Scotland News she has "never heard so much claptrap".

"We were all there fighting the same war. My son worked alongside some of the Americans," she says. "He's just diminished everything that our children have done."

She says she is "angry, very angry, very very angry", and adds "how can he say they weren't on the front lines when they were out there fighting."

"I'd love President Trump to come and see me," she says.

"I'd soon tell him how it is being an Army wife and an Army mother, and what it is to lose a child in those circumstances, something that he knows nothing about."

• You can read more here

Image source, Janette Binnie

Image source, PA Media

Armed forces charity the Royal British Legion says "the service and sacrifice of British personnel in Afghanistan cannot be called into question".

In a social media statement responding to Trump's remarks, it adds: "We condemn any comments that undermine their extraordinary contribution."

The charity notes that 457 British personnel lost their lives in Afghanistan, and says "thousands more and their families now live with the lifelong physical and mental impact from service in that conflict".

It says the sacrifices of these soldiers "to protect our freedoms and support our allies deserves our deep and ongoing respect and gratitude".

Most troops killed in Afghanistan were American - but Nato allies suffered significant lossespublished at 15:20 GMT

15:20 GMT

By Tamara Kovacevic and Rob England

Downing Street says comments by US President Donald Trump - that Nato troops stayed "a little off the front lines" during the war in Afghanistan - were “wrong”.

Following the terror attacks of 11 September 2001, the US invoked Nato’s Article 5 - which treats an attack on one member as an attack against them all - and launched military action in Afghanistan.

A total of 51 countries - both Nato and non-Nato , external- took part in the conflict that followed.

Among Nato nations that fought in Afghanistan, 24 suffered casualties according to iCasualities, external, a website that has tracked deaths in the war from 2001 to 2021, when the troops withdrew.

Over this period, the US suffered the highest number of deaths overall – 2,465 - followed by the UK with 457, external and Canada with 158.

However, if you express Nato deaths in Afghanistan in proportion to these countries’ populations, the US had 7.9 deaths per million, closely followed by Denmark with 7.7, the UK with 7.2 and Estonia with 6.7.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the White House

While we've just heard from the White House, we have still not heard anything else from Donald Trump regarding the uproar over his comments about America's Nato allies.

It is unclear when, or if, we will.

According to Trump's official schedule for the day, he is due to sit down for a print interview - with a so-far unnamed outlet - at 13:30 EST (18:30 GMT), followed by the signing of congressional bills.

That event, however, is closed, as is a subsequent meeting with the Commissioner of the US Social Security Administration.

He is also scheduled to have "policy time" later in the afternoon, although the White House has so far not specified what this means.

In this administration, closed events often do not remain so, and the White House press is regularly called in at a moment's notice if the president is feeling talkative. He often is.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the White House

We've just received a statement from the White House response that did not immediately address our questions about Trump's comments on Nato's contributions to the war in Afghanistan.

Here's what Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly told us: "President Trump is right – America’s contributions to Nato dwarf that of other countries, and his success in delivering a five percent spending pledge from Nato allies is helping Europe take greater responsibility for its own defence.

"The United States is the only Nato partner who can protect Greenland, and the President is advancing Nato interests in doing so."

When pressed, the White House had nothing to add.

It is, however, indicative of this administration's broader views on the Nato alliance, which Trump has consistently and repeatedly criticised as not "paying their fair share".

Trump's push for Nato countries to increase defence spending to beyond the traditional 2% of GDP was long one of his primary foreign policy objectives.

Their commitment to do so is seen by the White House as a victory, and those that haven't - namely Spain - have drawn Trump's ire.

But even so, Trump's recent comments suggest that he still firmly believes that Nato gets more from the US than the US gets from Nato.

As we've been reporting, Trump's comments questioning whether Nato allies would be there for the US in time of need, and that Nato forces in Afghanistan stayed "a little back from the front lines" in Afghanistan, have been met with strong criticism.

Here's some of the political reaction in the UK:

• Keir Starmer's spokesperson says Trump was "wrong to diminish the role of Nato troops, including British forces, in Afghanistan following the 9/11 attacks on the US"
• Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch describes Trump's comments as a "disgrace", saying "we mustn't have these sort of throwaway comments that actually weaken the strong relationship" between Nato allies
• Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey calls them a "huge insult to our brave soldiers" and says the prime minister should demand an apology from Trump
• Reform UK leader Nigel Farage says: "Donald Trump is wrong"

Katie Williams
Live reporter

I’ve just been speaking with a veteran who served 36 years in the military, including 22 years with special forces. He now does charitable work with veterans, and he’s chosen to be identified as Vic rather than his full name.

He served in Afghanistan himself, and describes how this included “coordinating with the Americans”.

“To say we weren’t at the pointy end is a total lie,” he says.

Vic describes being “pretty disgusted” with Trump’s comments but is doubtful about whether veterans will ever get an apology.

Former Army chief Lord Richard Dannatt says Trump's comments about the role of Nato forces in Afghanistan are "factually incoherent" and "absolutely disrespectful".

He says Europe "must do more" for its own defence, and says comments made by Trump over the past year since he was elected underscore that point.

Watch his reaction below.

Frank Gardner
Security correspondent

The US invaded Afghanistan in 2001, backed by an Afghan alliance opposed to the Taliban who were harbouring Osama Bin Laden and his Al-Qaeda group that killed nearly 3,000 people in the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington.

The UK was among several allies to join the US in Afghanistan from 2001, after it invoked Nato's collective security clause. The US had by far the biggest single contingent, peaking at around 110,000 US troops in 2011 but other nations also took heavy casualties.

The US is the only country to have invoked Article 5 of Nato, which states that "an armed attack against one Nato member shall be considered an attack against them all".

On its website, Nato says it went into Afghanistan to "ensure that the country would not again become a safe haven for terrorists to attack Nato member countries".

Nato formally ended its combat mission in December 2014, but kept a 13,000-strong force there to help train Afghan forces and support counter-terrorism operations.

However, the withdrawal gave the Taliban momentum and they seized more territory.

US and other international forces withdrew completely from Afghanistan in 2021 and the Taliban returned to power, reversing the freedoms enjoyed by the population during the previous 20 years.

Another sign Starmer is willing to criticise Trump, but No 10 wants to avoid tit-for-tatpublished at 14:05 GMT

14:05 GMT

Jack Fenwick
Political correspondent

At the daily briefing for journalists in Downing Street earlier, the prime minister’s official spokesman said President Trump "was wrong to diminish the role of Nato troops" in Afghanistan.

For now, No 10 aren’t going any further than that. The spokesman paid tribute to the 457 British service personnel who lost their lives in Afghanistan and the thousands of others who were injured – but wouldn’t be drawn on whether Starmer wants Trump to apologise.

It doesn’t sound as if there are any plans for a phone call between the two men, or for any contact between British officials and the US ambassador in London.

But it’s another sign that Starmer is becoming more willing to criticise President Trump.

This comes after he and other European leaders hit out at the president for his threat to impose tariffs over the Greenland row.

When Trump has fallen out with world leaders in the past, he’s gone on to attack them for a whole host of things.

In recent days he’s criticised UK policy on immigration, the environment and the deal to hand sovereignty of the Chagos Islands over to Mauritius.

Downing Street are clearly keen not to get into a tit-for-tat. The prime minister’s spokesman said the "special relationship" between the UK and the US had “endured for many, many decades".

Elliot Ball
BBC West Midlands

The mother of the youngest British soldier to be killed in Afghanistan says she is "deeply disgusted" by Trump's comments.

Rifleman William Aldridge, of Bromyard, Herefordshire, was 18 when he died in a bomb blast trying to save comrades in 2009.

His mother Lucy says the president's claim "picks the scab off wounds that never healed".

She tells BBC Hereford and Worcester: "Families of those who were lost to that conflict live the trauma every day - I’m not just deeply offended, I’m actually deeply disgusted."

Aldridge adds: "This isn’t just misspeaking, he has deeply offended - I can imagine - every Nato member who sent troops to fight in Afghanistan and certainly the families of those who never came home."

Image source, Ministry of Defence

Image source, Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has described Donald Trump's comments as "a disgrace".

"I spoke to parents of young men who had lost their lives in Afghanistan and I think it is a disgrace to denigrate their memory like that," she says while on a visit in Essex.

She accuses Trump of "too much careless talk", adding that he "clearly doesn't know the history of what happened".

"We mustn't have these sort of throwaway comments that actually weaken the strong relationship between those countries in the alliance," she adds.