Donald Trump’s reversal of his claims about British forces in Afghanistan is “as good as it gets” in terms of an apology from the US president, the UK home secretary has said.
Mr Trump sparked fury in the UK and other allied nations on Thursday after suggesting Nato troops stayed off the front lines during the conflict in Afghanistan.
After a call with Keir Starmer in which the British prime minister raised the issue directly, the president appeared to retract the comments.
Although he did not apologise, Mr Trump said in a social media post that British troops were “among the greatest of all warriors” and acknowledged the 457 UK deaths in Afghanistan.
Asked whether Mr Trump should have apologised explicitly for his remarks, Shabana Mahmood told Sky News’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips: “The president has his way.”
She said: “The Prime Minister did make the point directly to the president how we felt about the initial comments, and I think this was a response to that.
“With the president, I suspect this is as good as it gets.”
Other politicians welcomed Mr Trump’s reversal, with shadow foreign secretary Dame Priti Patel saying the president should “think carefully about making future statements in such a flippant way”.
Asked if she believed he was “genuinely” sorry, Ms Patel told Sky News: “I think he is. I think he clearly recognises that what he has said was wrong, there’s no doubt about that but, you know, he said it.”
Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg he was “relieved” Mr Trump had “backed down”.
But Mr Davy, an outspoken critic of Mr Trump, said he still believed the US was “no longer a reliable ally on the economy or on defence” while the president was in the White House.
He said: “We have to look at alternative coalitions… that is serious politics, and I’m afraid the Prime Minister hasn’t stepped up.”
