Vance: 'Absurdly dishonest' to suggest he criticized British, French troops

Vice President Vance is pushing back on claims that he criticized British and French troops during a Monday interview.

In the interview, he lauded President Trump’s proposed minerals deal with Ukraine as a better security guarantee for the nation than peacekeepers made up of “20,000 troops from some random country that hasn't fought a war in 30 or 40 years.”

Troops from the United Kingdom and France have been discussed as part of a peacekeeping force in Ukraine. They are the only two countries that have publicly committed to taking part in such an effort.

The vice president said comments accusing him of referring to British or French troops were “absurdly dishonest.”

“I don’t even mention the UK or France in the clip, both of whom have fought bravely alongside the US over the last 20 years, and beyond,” Vance wrote in a Tuesday post on X.

His comments rang out among NATO allies as divisive and disrespectful, which prompted leaders to condemn his statement.

“JD Vance is wrong, wrong, wrong,” Nigel Farage, a far-right British member of Parliament and staunch Trump ally, told reporters.

“We spent the same amount of money, we put the same number of men and women in and we suffered the same losses. We stood by America,” Farage added, sharing his discontent.

James Cartlidge of the British opposition Conservative Party also chimed in.

“NATO Article 5 has been invoked once - on 12/9/01 by 🇺🇸, after 9/11,” Cartlidge wrote in a Tuesday post on X referencing the organization’s collective defense clause.

“Britain and France came to their aid deploying 1,000s of personnel to Afghanistan, including my own brother & numerous parliamentary colleagues, past & present. It’s deeply disrespectful to ignore such service & sacrifice,” he said.

France’s Renaissance party said Vance’s comments showed “disdain” to their soldiers.

One British leader said the vice president was further aligning the United States as a Russian “asset.”

“We have to consider the possibility that President Trump is a Russian asset,” Graham Stuart, a member of Parliament and Conservative Party member, wrote on X.

“If so, Trump's acquisition is the crowning achievement of Putin's FSB career - and Europe is on its own,” he said.

The U.S. last week shocked some of its longtime allies by voting “no” on a resolution condemning Russia for their 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The language in the resolution marked Russia as the aggressor in the war.

On Monday, Trump paused aid to Ukraine days after a blowup during a meeting at the White House.

President Trump has urged Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky to issue an apology for his behavior in the Oval Office last week before proceeding with peace negotiations.

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