Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Friday, Aug 22, 2025

Fact-checking Trump's claim that Kurds did not help the US in WWII and Normandy invasion

Fact-checking Trump's claim that Kurds did not help the US in WWII and Normandy invasion

During a press conference Wednesday, President Donald Trump mentioned that the Kurds did not join the US during the invasion of Normandy in 1944 as part of his defense for removing troops from northern Syria, providing Turkey with a clear shot to attack the Kurds.

"Now the Kurds are fighting for their land, just so you understand," Trump said when asked if abandoning the Kurds would make it more difficult for the US to gain allies in the future. "As somebody wrote in a very very powerful article today, they didn't help us in the Second World War, they didn't help us with Normandy," Trump said, likely referring to an article posted on the right-wing website Townhall.


Facts First: The Kurds as an entity did not assist the US during World War II or at Normandy in particular, but that's because they couldn't.


The Kurds are made up of many different tribes and families that primarily live in Kurdistan, a region that spans across five countries: Iran, Iraq, Syria, Turkey and Armenia. During the Second World War there was no Kurdish government in any of these countries, so there was no way they could have assisted the US in Normandy or any battlefront.


Experts CNN spoke with said that since the Kurds were not (and still are not) a nation state, there would be no way for them to enter the war. However, because some Kurds migrated to the Soviet Union following the First World War and the fall of the Ottoman Empire, individual Kurds may have fought with the Soviets against the Axis, as noted by The New York Times.
Henri Barkey, an adjunct senior fellow for Middle East studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, told CNN that entering the war would have been impossible for the Kurds.


"There was no Kurdish entity, or Kurdish political authority," said Barkey. "Just like many other people who did not have a state, (the Kurds) could not have helped the United States."


"World War II was a war among states and the Kurds weren't a state," Michael Rubin, an expert on the Middle East and resident scholar at the conservative think tank the American Enterprise Institute, told CNN. "It's such a nonsensical statement to start with," Rubin said of Trump bringing up Normandy.


Military equipment


According to Bryan Gibson, an expert on Kurdistan and assistant professor of history at Hawaii Pacific University, at the time, any Kurds who were armed had no military equipment beyond rifles and perhaps older machine guns. They had no tanks, airplanes, or any sort of artillery.


"The US has long range bombers, massive artillery, tanks," Gibson said. "At most, (the Kurds) had cars."


Gibson also noted that many of the Kurds were cut off from larger parts of society at the time. "We're talking about a group of people who live in a relatively remote part of the world who have contact with modernity but pretty limited," he said.


US and the Kurds


The US never called on the Kurds to aid in the invasion of Normandy or in the war at all. The experts who spoke to CNN did say that every time, however, that the US has asked for Kurdish aid, the Kurds have come.


"When we needed them and when we called upon them, they were ready," Rubin said, asserting that every president since George H.W. Bush has called on the Kurds to help fight a common enemy. "And they were there to answer our call."


The SDF, a Kurdish-led military group including Arab soldiers and backed by US, British and French special forces, defeated ISIS and liberated eastern Syria in March. The SDF said it lost 11,000 "forces, leaders, and fighters" while battling ISIS.


"To justify abandoning them on the basis of them not helping during the Second World War is outrageous," Gibson said.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Surprise Stop at New Hong Kong Museum
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
High-Stakes Trump-Putin Summit on Ukraine Underway in Alaska
Iranian Protection Offers Chinese Vehicle Shipments a Cost Advantage over Japanese and Korean Makers
Saudi Arabia accelerates renewables to curb domestic oil use
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez announce engagement
Asia-Pacific dominates world’s busiest flight routes, with South Korea’s Jeju–Seoul corridor leading global rankings
Private Welsh island with 19th-century fort listed for sale at over £3 million
Sam Altman challenges Elon Musk with plans for Neuralink rival
Australia to Recognize the State of Palestine at UN Assembly
The Collapse of the Programmer Dream: AI Experts Now the Real High-Earners
Armenia and Azerbaijan to Sign US-Brokered Framework Agreement for Nakhchivan Corridor
British Labour Government Utilizes Counter-Terrorism Tools for Social Media Monitoring Against Legitimate Critics
WhatsApp Deletes 6.8 Million Scam Accounts Amid Rising Global Fraud
Nine people have been hospitalized and dozens of salmonella cases have been reported after an outbreak of infections linked to certain brands of pistachios and pistachio-containing products, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada
Texas Residents Face Water Restrictions While AI Data Centers Consume Millions of Gallons
Tariffs, AI, and the Shifting U.S. Macro Landscape: Navigating a New Economic Regime
India Rejects U.S. Tariff Threat, Defends Russian Oil Purchases
United States Establishes Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile
Thousands of Private ChatGPT Conversations Accidentally Indexed by Google
China Tightens Mineral Controls, Curtailing Critical Inputs for Western Defence Contractors
OpenAI’s Bold Bet: Teaching AI to Think, Not Just Chat
BP’s Largest Oil and Gas Find in 25 Years Uncovered Offshore Brazil
JPMorgan and Coinbase Unveil Partnership to Let Chase Cardholders Buy Crypto Directly
British Tourist Dies Following Hair Transplant in Turkey, Police Investigate
WhatsApp Users Targeted in New Scam Involving Account Takeovers
Trump Deploys Nuclear Submarines After Threats from Former Russian President Medvedev
Germany’s Economic Breakdown and the Return of Militarization: From Industrial Collapse to a New Offensive Strategy
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
President Trump Diagnosed with Chronic Venous Insufficiency After Leg Swelling
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
Iranian President Reportedly Injured During Israeli Strike on Secret Facility
Kurdistan Workers Party Takes Symbolic Step Towards Peace in Northern Iraq
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
AI Raises Alarms Over Long-Term Job Security
Saudi Arabia Maintains Ties with Iran Despite Israel Conflict
Russia Formally Recognizes Taliban Government in Afghanistan
×