US President Donald Trump once again on Sunday claimed that he played a decisive role in preventing a war between India and Pakistan. Speaking in an interview with Fox News, Trump asserted that trade threats, including the possibility of imposing 200 per cent tariffs, were instrumental in de-escalating the situation.
“I’ve ended, you know, eight wars that we just mentioned. Five of them have been ended because of tariffs. The threat of tariffs, as an example, kept India and Pakistan, two nuclear nations, from going at it,” Trump said.
He added that the tensions in May 2025 had reached a dangerous point. “They were going at it…seven planes were shot down. That’s a lot. And they were going at it. That could have been a nuclear war,” he claimed.
The US President’s comments refer to India’s Operation Sindoor, which involved precision strikes on nine terrorist camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK) after the Pahalgam terror attack on 22 April, which killed 26 civilians. According to Trump, his intervention, including the threat of crippling tariffs, led both countries to step back from conflict within 24 hours.
“I said to India and Pakistan pretty much the same thing: ‘Look, if you’re going to fight each other, I’m not going to do business with you. We’re going to put on a 200 per cent tariff. It’ll make it impossible for you to do business.’ And after 24 hours, I settled the war. I settled it through trade,” Trump asserted.
Since May 2025, Trump has repeated versions of this claim more than 40 times across speeches, interviews, and social media. He has cited the US-brokered ceasefire during multiple events, including at the UN General Assembly, during addresses in Quantico, and in meetings with world leaders.
While Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif publicly supported Trump’s statements and even nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize, the Indian government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has consistently rejected the claims. Indian officials reiterated that any disputes with Pakistan are to be resolved bilaterally, and no foreign mediation or intervention occurred in the May escalation.
