OTTAWA — Defence Minister David McGuinty says Canadians will never forget the sacrifices their troops have made for Americans and the NATO alliance in Afghanistan, but won’t say if U.S. President Donald Trump should apologize for downplaying their contribution.
“We joined the Americans and other NATO allies on the day operations were launched in Afghanistan,” McGuinty told media Saturday afternoon, reading out a statement on Parliament Hill.
“There was only standing side by side, in solidarity. Over 150 of our own soldiers made the ultimate sacrifice. We will never forget what they did, for Canada and for our NATO allies”
Trump renewed long-standing grievances with NATO partners in a media interview on Thursday by disputing sacrifices made by non-U.S. troops.
“We’ve never needed them, we have never really asked anything of them,” he told Fox News.
“They’ll say they sent some troops to Afghanistan, or this or that. And they did. They stayed a little back, a little off the front lines.”
McGuinty did not mention Trump when he spoke to media, as Liberal MPs met to prepare for the looming sitting of the House of Commons. He also did not answer when asked if Trump should apologize for this remarks.
He instead said he wanted “to be clear and direct” and said Canadian soldiers, sailors and aviators “are second to none” in their commitment and sacrifice.
“When the Twin Towers were hit on 9/11, where 24 Canadians died, Canada launched Operation Yellow Ribbon, taking in air traffic from the United States to help protect lives. Canadian firefighters headed for Manhattan, almost immediately,” McGuinty said.
McGuinty’s statement — two days after Trump’s remarks — follows more direct criticism from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who said Friday he considered Trump’s remarks to be “insulting, and frankly, appalling.”
On Saturday, Trump posted about the sacrifices made by U.K. soldiers, but didn’t mention other NATO allies who supported the U.S. in Afghanistan.
“The GREAT and very BRAVE soldiers of the United Kingdom will always be with the United States of America!,” Trump wrote. “In Afghanistan, 457 died, many were badly injured, and they were among the greatest of all warriors.”
Prime Minister Mark Carney hasn’t taken questions from media in six days, and he abruptly cancelled a Friday press conference, with his office saying his schedule had changed.
His office released a statement noting the “sacrifice of Canadians who have worked in close co-ordination with the United States and our NATO allies in support of shared peace and security,” including the 40,000 Canadian Armed Forces members who served in Afghanistan between 2001 and 2014.
The Liberals have faced pushback for avoiding direct criticism of Trump on matters ranging from the stealth capture by force of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to the U.S. sanctioning of Canadian judge Kimberly Prost for her work with the International Criminal Court.
Culture Minister Marc Miller, who served as a reservist in the Canadian Armed Forces in the 1990s, told reporters at the Liberal cabinet retreat in Quebec City on Friday that Canadians made “great sacrifices” in Afghanistan and everyone knows Trump’s comments are “false.”
The war in Afghanistan was launched after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks led the United States to invoke Article 5 of NATO, which states that an attack on one member nation is an attack on all. It remains the only time an ally has asked for support via Article 5.
Trump has routinely talked down the role of NATO in modern geopolitics and questioned whether allies would come to the United States’ aid in a conflict.
Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne said Friday that Canadians are proud of the Armed Forces’ service in Afghanistan, and that Canada’s respected troops “will continue to be part of multinational forces whenever called upon” by NATO.
“We don’t need comments from anyone else to know the strength of our Armed Forces,” Champagne said.
Conservative MP Michael Barrett, who also served in the Canadian Armed Forces, noted the number of Canadian troops who served and died alongside U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan in a post on social media platform X.
He tagged Pete Hoekstra, the U.S. ambassador to Canada, and the U.S. Consulate office in Toronto in the post with an invitation to come to visit Parliament Hill and read the Books of Remembrance that list every Canadian killed in service to the country.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 24, 2026.
Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press
