U.S. President Donald Trump has once again claimed credit for settling multiple global conflicts, including the recent military standoff between India and Pakistan, asserting that trade leverage played a central role in his diplomacy. In a post on Truth Social, Trump stated he had ended five wars since taking office earlier this year, including a “31-year bloodbath” between the Republic of the Congo and Rwanda and the India-Pakistan conflict, by leveraging America’s trade influence.
His comments come just days after White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt praised Trump’s diplomatic approach, arguing that he should be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for brokering several ceasefires, including between nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan. Trump has consistently referred to the ceasefire that was announced on May 10, following a brief four-day exchange of artillery, drone, and missile strikes between the two countries after the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir that killed 26 people.
On Newsmax, Trump elaborated on his strategy, saying he used trade negotiations as a tool to halt conflicts. “You guys are going to fight, fight all you want, but we’re not doing a trade deal,” he recalled telling countries. “All of a sudden, they end up not doing a war.”
As part of his trade-based pressure campaign, Trump recently imposed a 25 per cent tariff on all Indian goods beginning August 1 and threatened further penalties over India’s continued purchase of Russian oil and military equipment. While India faces steeper tariffs, Trump reduced Pakistan’s tariffs to 19 per cent and announced a trade agreement with Islamabad to help develop what he described as the country’s “massive oil reserves.”
At a White House briefing, Leavitt listed other conflict zones where Trump claims to have brokered peace, including Thailand and Cambodia, Israel and Iran, Serbia and Kosovo, and Egypt and Ethiopia. She emphasized that the president has successfully negotiated about one peace deal or ceasefire per month since taking office.