Washington: U.S. President Donald Trump has once again reiterated his controversial claim that he prevented a major escalation between India and Pakistan following the recent Pahalgam terror attack, asserting that he has “stopped five wars in the last five months,” including one between the two South Asian rivals.
Trump made this fresh assertion just 20 days after repeating a similar claim that the United States helped mediate a ceasefire between India and Pakistan. He made the remarks during a White House press conference originally convened to discuss preparations for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
Labeling the ongoing global unrest as “Biden’s war,” Trump said, “We’re working very hard to get us out. I stopped five wars in the last five months, actually, and I’d like this to be the sixth, frankly.”
He further claimed to have personally intervened to defuse several international crises, including the India-Pakistan standoff. “The others I resolved within days—almost every one of them—including India and Pakistan. I could list them, but you know the list as well as I do,” he said.
Trump had made similar remarks in July during a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, saying, “We have been very successful in settling wars. India, Pakistan… that would have turned into a nuclear war in another week. It was going very badly.”
He credited his use of trade leverage as a key negotiating tool: “We did that through trade. I told them we wouldn’t discuss trade unless the issue was settled—and they settled it.”
Trump has often taken credit for easing tensions between India and Pakistan, especially after India’s airstrikes on terror camps in response to attacks allegedly supported by Pakistan-based groups. However, India has consistently denied such claims, maintaining that matters concerning Jammu and Kashmir are bilateral and do not involve third-party mediation.
In a separate development, Trump also announced a new 25% reciprocal tariff on Indian goods and hinted at further penalties for India’s continued oil imports from Russia.
“India is not only buying massive amounts of Russian oil, but also reselling much of it on the open market for huge profits,” Trump said in a social media post. “They don’t care how many people in Ukraine are being killed by the Russian war machine. Because of this, I will be substantially raising the tariff India pays to the U.S.”
