"The British military, with its enormous heart and soul, is second to none (after the US!). We love you all, and always will!" Trump wrote.
Trump also noted that 457 British soldiers died in the NATO operation in Afghanistan and wrote that "they were among the greatest of all warriors."
In an interview, Trump said the United States "never needed" its NATO allies and that the troops the countries contributed to the war "stayed in the background, a little off the front lines."
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has called the statement "disgusting," and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, among others, has also expressed sharp criticism.
