Donald Trump has reportedly retracted his statement suggesting that British troops avoided frontline combat in Afghanistan, following intervention from King Charles over the remarks.

The former U.S. President initially stirred controversy with comments implying that UK soldiers had held back from the front lines. However, two days later, he sought to quell the backlash by offering a more conciliatory stance.

In his revised statement, Trump praised the UK’s military prowess, declaring, “The GREAT and very BRAVE soldiers of the United Kingdom will always stand alongside the United States of America!”

He acknowledged the sacrifices made by British forces, noting, “In Afghanistan, 457 died, many were badly injured, and they were among the greatest of all warriors.”

Emphasizing the enduring alliance, Trump added, “It’s a bond too strong to ever be broken. The U.K. Military, with tremendous Heart and Soul, is second to none (except for the U.S.A.!). We love you all, and always will! President DONALD J. TRUMP.”

Earlier this week Mr Trump was accused of ‘trampling on the memories’ of Britain’s 457 war dead with his unpopular claims.

The President made no mention of the Danes or other NATO soldiers who died in the country. 

Downing Street led a chorus of condemnation as Sir Keir Starmer branded Mr Trump’s remarks ‘insulting and frankly appalling,’ suggesting he should apologise, amid pressure for the Prime Minister to cancel the King’s state visit to the US unless President Trump apologised.

It has now been reported that King Charles – who is Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces – had aired his concerns over Trump’s words.

A source told The Sun that Trump was told of the monarch’s unease before the US President was seen to backpedal over the jibe.

‘It was made very clear that the King’s concern over the hurt had been caused by the comments whether inadvertent or not.’

Trump has often spoken fondly about the Royal Family and during his state visit last year described King Charles as ‘my friend’.

Buckingham Palace has been approached for comment. 

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said today she was ‘pleased’ the president had ‘now acknowledged the role of the British armed forces and those brave men and women who gave their lives fighting alongside the US and our allies’.

She added: ‘It should never have been questioned in the first place’ – after previously branding the comments ‘complete nonsense’.

The Prime Minister however has been facing growing calls from all sides of the British political spectrum to cancel the King’s planned US tour over the remarks and a series of foreign policy moves that have been deemed controversial. 

King Charles is expected to travel to the America in April in what would be the first visit stateside by a reigning monarch since Queen Elizabeth II was hosted by George Bush in 2007.

Conservative MP Simon Hoare said, however, that Sir Keir needs to weigh up whether such a trip could still go ahead.

He told the Daily Mail: ‘HM is also head of the armed forces. We have seen Trump seek to annex Canada, undermine NATO and offend those who served if Afghanistan. In all conscience I cannot see how the Government could advise for the State Visit to go ahead.’ 

Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Calum Miller MP was equally outraged by Trump’s comments. He told the Mail: ‘It is a disgrace to see Donald Trump insult our brave veterans and the memory of British soldiers who lost their lives in Afghanistan. 

‘By attacking the best of us, he has shown himself to be unreliable and ignorant. We cannot entrust our economy or our security to the moods of a President who governs by temper tantrum.

‘Keir Starmer must seriously consider whether the state visit should go ahead. Britain should stand up to Trump and stop rewarding his erratic, bullying behaviour with the pageantry he so desperately craves.’

And former BBC newsreader Simon McCoy has set up a petition with the same aim.

But royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams said this is something the UK ‘cannot afford’ to do.

‘The nation is totally supportive of Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s attack on Trump’s comments which insulted our troops,’ he told the Daily Mail.

‘Many feel after his insults and recent behaviour, the state visit should be cancelled.

‘[But] it cannot be without enraging Trump and this is something we cannot afford to do.’

He added: ‘Trump shoots from the hip the whole time and aims his actions at his support base in the United States, which would have little interest in the way he has antagonised Britain. We simply cannot afford to.

‘The world order is undoubtedly changing. It would be wise to prepare for this with our European allies, but this will take time.

‘Whatever we personally feel, we should be diplomatic in the meantime. The state visit must therefore go ahead, at least, at the moment.’

The King’s trip will be the first time he has visited the US since his son Prince Harry ceased to be a working royal and moved to Montecito, California, with his wife Meghan.

Downing Street hopes that the royal trip, which will take place just months after Trump’s ‘unprecedented’ second UK state visit, could provide an incentive for Trump to keep the special relationship alive.

Sir Keir is unlikely to attend alongside the King, with Yvette Cooper, the foreign secretary, likely to represent the Government.

It is understood Sir Keir raised Mr Trump’s remarks about Nato troops in Afghanistan directly with the US president in a conversation on Saturday. 

A Number 10 spokesman said the Prime Minister ‘raised the brave and heroic British and American soldiers who fought side by side in Afghanistan, many of whom never returned home’, and told Mr Trump ‘we must never forget their sacrifice’.

The two men also discussed the war in Ukraine, which approaches its fourth anniversary, and the Prime Minister ‘reiterated that international partners must continue to support Ukraine in its defence against Putin’s barbaric attacks’.

They also touched on the UK-US relationship and the need for ‘bolstered security in the Arctic’, with Sir Keir saying this was ‘an absolute priority for his Government’.

Sir Keir additionally used the conversation to robustly defend Greenland, telling his US counterpart it was unacceptable to threaten allies with tariffs over the issue.

A source told The Telegraph it came as attitudes towards Trump are hardening in government.

‘I think a view has grown in [the] Foreign Office under Yvette that the UK should take a more assertive, independent stance like France,’ they said.

‘This has takers inside No 10 who think Starmer is seen as supine towards Trump.’

Following the President’s incendiary interview with US media, decorated veterans, MPs from all parties and the families of soldiers killed and wounded lined up to vent their hurt and anger.

The UK suffered the second highest number of military deaths – 457 – in the Afghanistan conflict, behind the US, which saw 2,461 deaths.

In total, America’s allies suffered 1,160 deaths in the conflict, around a third of the total coalition deaths.

Many pointed out that Mr Trump himself had repeatedly swerved military service in Vietnam.

Doug Beattie, a former Army captain who won the Military Cross in Afghanistan, said: ‘I will not allow anybody to trample over the memory of those men and women who I served alongside, who gave so much.

‘We need to stand up to him, stand up to his bullying. This is a man who doesn’t understand service because he dodged the draft and now he is insulting those who served their country.’

Prince Harry, who was twice deployed to Afghanistan in his ten-year military career, joined the condemnation, saying: ‘I served there. I made lifelong friends there. And I lost friends there.

‘Thousands of lives were changed for ever. 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.’

President Trump – just days after clashing with Nato allies over his bid to take control of Greenland – told Fox News he was ‘not sure’ the military alliance of Western countries would be there for America ‘if we ever needed them’.

In what was taken as a cheap shot at his country’s closest friends, he claimed: ‘We’ve never needed them… we have never really asked anything of them. They’ll say they sent some troops to Afghanistan. And they did – they stayed a little back, a little off the frontlines.’

His comments triggered outrage, with ministers dispensing with diplomatic protocol. Al Carns, the Armed Forces minister and a former commando who served five tours in Afghanistan, said Britain had fought ‘shoulder to shoulder’ with US troops after America asked Nato allies to come to its aid following the 9/11 attacks in 2001.

Mr Carns raged: ‘This is utterly ridiculous. We shed blood, sweat and tears together. Not everybody came home. 

‘I’d suggest whoever believes these comments come have a whisky with me, my colleagues, their families and importantly, the families of those that have made the ultimate sacrifice for both of our nations.’

Calvin Bailey, Labour MP and a former RAF Wing Commander, was awarded a US Air Medal for serving with American special ops in Afghanistan. 

He blasted: ‘The notion that we weren’t in and amongst the front line, albeit I was a pilot, is for the birds.’

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, meanwhile, accused the President of talking ‘flat-out nonsense’, adding: ‘Their sacrifice deserves respect, not denigration.’ 

Sir Jeremy Hunt, former foreign secretary, called Mr Trump’s remarks ‘totally unacceptable, factually wrong and deeply disrespectful’.

In his response to the US President, Sir Keir said: ‘I consider President Trump’s remarks to be insulting and frankly appalling and I am not surprised they have caused such hurt to the loved ones of those who were killed or injured and, in fact, across the country. If I had misspoken in that way or said those words, I would certainly apologise.’

Diane Dernie, the mother of ex-Paratrooper Ben Parkinson who is regarded as the most severely injured British soldier to have survived in Afghanistan, decried Mr Trump as ‘a childish man trying to deflect from his own actions’.

Ex-paratrooper Mr Parkinson, now 41, suffered horrendous injuries when an Army Land Rover hit a mine near Musa Qala in 2006.

Ms Dernie added: ‘Come and look at the life that Ben leads – 19 years on, still fighting for his care, still fighting to have a decent life, recovering from a recent operation. [Keir Starmer] has got to stand up for his own Armed Forces, and he’s got to absolutely refute what Donald Trump said.

‘Call him out. Make a stand for those who fought for this country and for our flag.’

Lib Dem leader Ed Davey said: ‘Trump avoided military service five times. How dare he question their sacrifice.’

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage – a personal friend of the President – wrote on X: ‘Donald Trump is wrong. For 20 years our Armed Forces fought bravely alongside America’s in Afghanistan.’

Earlier this week Mr Trump dropped his threat to invade Greenland following a furious bust–up with Britain and other Nato allies.

Speaking after talks with Nato chief Mark Rutte, the US President said he had agreed ‘the framework of a future deal’ regarding the control of the Arctic island, which he claims is vital for American security.

Mr Trump added that he was suspending plans to slap tariffs on Britain and other countries resisting his Greenland grab.

Markets in the US rallied on his announcement, having climbed on his earlier proclamation that he would not use force to take the ‘big, beautiful piece of ice’.

And the Daily Mail revealed he was also mulling over making the inhabitants of Greenland (population 57,000) an offer of $1million each – £750,000 or €850,000 – if they vote to join the United States.

On Wednesday night, Nato military officers were discussing an arrangement where Denmark would cede ‘small pockets of Greenlandic’ territory to the US, where it could build military bases.

Senior officials compared the proposal to UK military bases in Cyprus – which are treated as sovereign British territories.

Mr Trump told reporters it was ‘the ultimate long–term deal’. When asked how long, he replied: ‘Infinite. There is no time limit. It’s a deal that’s forever.’

He had earlier written on his Truth Social social media platform: ‘Based upon a very productive meeting that I have had with the Secretary General of Nato, Mark Rutte, we have formed the framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland and, in fact, the entire Arctic Region.

‘This solution, if consummated, will be a great one for the United States of America, and all Nato Nations.’

Danish foreign minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said the US owning Greenland is a ‘red line’ that will not happen.

He said Copenhagen would keep ownership of Greenland, despite Mr Trump’s earlier demand for negotiations on an ‘acquisition’. ‘It’s not going to happen that the US will own Greenland. That’s a red line,’ Mr Rasmussen told national broadcaster DR.

Mr Trump’s apparent climbdown on the imposition of tariffs over the Greenland dispute will fuel critics who coined the term TACO, short for ‘Trump Always Chickens Out’.

The row that has played out over the last fortnight has raised serious questions about the survival of Nato and yesterday plunged Britain’s ‘special relationship’ with the US into crisis. During a rambling address at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Mr Trump sought to often belittle his allies.

In a reference to America’s role in the Second World War, he told his mainly European audience: ‘Without us, you’d all be speaking German, with maybe a little Japanese.’