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On India-Pak truce, Trump claims 350% tariff threat brought about peace
Trump has repeated, more than 60 times, his rejected claim that he "helped settle" tensions between India and Pakistan in May this year.
Repeating the rejected claim for the nth time, US President Donald Trump on Wednesday again said that he defused tensions between India and Pakistan using trade, adding that he threatened both countries with 350 per cent tariffs.
Donald Trump, in his fresh claim, said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi called him to say "we're not going to go to war" after the 350 per cent tariff threat.
What did Trump say
Trump has repeated, more than 60 times, his assertion that he "helped settle" tensions between the two nations in May this year, despite India's consistent denial of any third-party involvement.
"…I'm good at settling disputes, and I've always been. I've done very well with that over the years, even before this. I was talking about the different wars… India, Pakistan... they were going to go at it, nuclear weapons," Trump said on Wednesday at the US-Saudi Investment Forum.
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At the event, attended by visiting Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Trump claimed he told the two nuclear-armed neighbours that they "can go at it, but I'm putting a 350 per cent tariff on each country. No more trade with the United States."
According to Trump, both India and Pakistan urged him not to take such action. He claimed he responded by saying, "I'm going to do it. Come back to me and I'll take it down. But I'm not going to have you guys shooting nuclear weapons at each other, killing millions of people and having the nuclear dust floating over Los Angeles. I'm not going to do it'."
Trump added that he was "all set" to impose the tariffs, telling Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent that he would apply the 350 per cent rate to "settle (the conflict)" and that if the countries stopped the war, "we'll make a nice trade deal," as the two sides were negotiating one.
"Now, no other president would have done that… I used tariffs to settle all these wars, not all of them. Five of the eight were settled because of the economy, because of trade, because of tariffs," Trump said. "I did this."
Sharif, Modi called, claims Trump
He also claimed that Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called to thank him "in front of White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles" for saving millions of lives.
Trump went on to say he "got a call from Prime Minister Modi saying, 'we're done'. I said, 'you're done with what?'" Trump claimed Modi replied: "We're not going to go to war."
Trump said he then thanked Modi and responded, "Let's make a deal."
The US president added that he "saved a lot of people, millions of people, in many other wars," noting that he had repeated the India-Pakistan claim just a day earlier during a bilateral meeting with the Saudi Crown Prince in the Oval Office.
60 and counting: Trump's claim of India-Pak truce
Since May 10, when Trump announced on social media that India and Pakistan had agreed to a "full and immediate" ceasefire after a "long night" of talks mediated by Washington, he has repeated more than 60 times that he "helped settle" the tensions between the two neighbours.
India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in response to the Pahalgam attack that killed 26 civilians.
New Delhi has repeatedly dismissed claims of foreign mediation, maintaining that the understanding on cessation of hostilities with Pakistan was reached on May 10 following direct talks between the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMO), which was sought by Islamabad first.
India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in retaliation for the Pahalgam attack that killed 26 civilians.
India has consistently denied any third-party intervention and maintained that the understanding on cessation of hostilities with Pakistan was reached on May 10 following direct talks between the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) of the two militaries.
