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Jan. 31 (UPI) — Danish military veterans and others staged a protest march against U.S. President Donald Trump‘s recent comments regarding NATO members and Greenland.

Trump criticized the amount of support the United States received from NATO allies during recent conflicts, and many veterans and others in Denmark took to the streets on Saturday to show their displeasure.

One protester, Danish Lance Cpl. Soren Teigen, said only the president is responsible for the comments.

“I don’t blame American soldiers in any way — we’ve fought side by side, and we still do,” Teigen told The New York Times. “But when the president says something like this, of course it hurts.”

Trump earlier accused NATO allies of shying away from fighting after sending their troops to Afghanistan but allegedly keeping them away from the front lines.

Officials with Danish Veterans & Veteran Support took exception to the president’s comments.

“Denmark has always stood side by side with the USA, and we have shown up in the world’s crisis zones when the USA has asked us to,” the group said in a prepared statement.

“We feel let down and ridiculed by the Trump administration, which is deliberately disregarding Denmark’s combat side by side with the USA,” it added.

Many veterans and other Danes also are unhappy with the president’s efforts to annex or otherwise control Greenland.

Hundreds of Danish military veterans on Saturday quietly marched to outside the U.S. Embassy in Copenhagen, where some placed 44 small Danish flags in planters located nearby.

The flags are to commemorate the 44 Danish military personnel who died in Afghanistan.

U.S. Embassy staff members were unaware of the flags’ meaning and initially removed them, which further upset many Danes.

Upon learning what the flags represented, the embassy staff left alone any that remained or were replaced.

The Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics open on Monday but one rapper Ghali’s inclusion draws criticism in his native Italy.

The inclusion ‌of Italian rapper Ghali in the cast of performers at the ‍opening ceremony of ‍the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics has led to a dispute in Italy.

The artist, born in Milan to Tunisian parents, has been criticised in Italy because of his comments on Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.

Al Jazeera Sport takes a look at the latest example of sport and politics colliding and why this case has hit the headlines.

Who is criticising Ghali’s inclusion at the Winter Olympics?

Members of Italy’s right-wing League party, part of Prime ⁠Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government, have criticised the choice of Ghali to ‍perform at the event in the San Siro stadium on February 6.

What is Ghali criticised for saying about Israel?

Ghali was at the centre of a political spat two years ago during the popular Sanremo song contest, ‍when he ⁠called for a “stop to the genocide” in reference to Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.

A League party source called Ghali a “pro-Palestinian fanatic” who hated Israel and the centre-right, in comments to the Italian ​media.

Is Ghali’s Winter Olympics opening ceremony role set to be controversial?

Sport Minister Andrea Abodi said he did not ‌expect Ghali to use the Olympic stage to make a political point.

“I am not embarrassed to disagree with Ghali’s views and the messages he has sent, but I believe that ‌a country must be able to absorb the impact of an artist who has expressed an opinion that ‌we do not share, which will not be ⁠expressed on that stage,” he said.

What other names will be alongside Ghali to open the Milano Cortino Games?

Ghali, who has not commented on the dispute, is likely to appeal to a younger audience more than other performers at the opening ceremony, who will ‌include tenor Andrea Bocelli and US pop singer Mariah Carey.

Franco-Malian pop star Aya Nakamura was the target of racist abuse online when it emerged that ‍she would sing at the opening of the Summer Olympics in Paris in 2024.