United States President Donald Trump on Friday (local time) again claimed credit for preventing a war between India and Pakistan, saying Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had thanked him for saving “at least 10 million people.”
Speaking at an event marking the renaming of US' Southern Boulevard to Donald J Trump Boulevard, Trump cited his administration’s foreign policy record and repeated assertions of brokering peace between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.
“In a year, we made eight peace deals and ended the war in Gaza. We have peace in the Middle East...We stopped India and Pakistan from fighting, two nuclear nations. The Pakistani Prime Minister said Donald Trump saved at least 10 million people, and it was amazing,” he said.
Trump has made similar claims multiple times since May 10 last year, arguing that US pressure helped defuse tensions between India and Pakistan. These remarks have coincided with his public pitch for the Nobel Peace Prize, which he did not end up receiving.
{{/usCountry}}Trump has made similar claims multiple times since May 10 last year, arguing that US pressure helped defuse tensions between India and Pakistan. These remarks have coincided with his public pitch for the Nobel Peace Prize, which he did not end up receiving.
{{/usCountry}}India, however, has consistently rejected Trump’s assertions, maintaining that the ceasefire between the two countries was achieved without any third-party mediation.
India rejects third-party mediation
New Delhi has repeatedly stated that peace was brokered directly between India and Pakistan following India’s launch of Operation Sindoor, which targeted terror bases in Pakistan.
The operation was carried out in response to the April 2025 Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir, in which 26 people were killed, mostly tourist.
According to Indian officials, it was Pakistan’s Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) who contacted his Indian counterpart on May 10, requesting an end to hostilities. The ceasefire was subsequently agreed upon by both sides.
Nobel medal ‘transfer’
Trump’s remarks also come amid renewed attention on his Nobel Peace Prize ambitions following a meeting at the White House with Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel laureate Maria Corina Machado.
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Almost two weeks after US strikes on Caracas, Machado said she had presented her Nobel Peace Prize medal to Trump, describing the gesture as recognition for his support for Venezuelan freedom and democratic efforts.
Trump acknowledged the move in a post on Truth Social, calling it “a wonderful gesture of mutual respect” and thanking Machado for the medal.
However, the Norwegian Nobel Committee and the Norwegian Nobel Institute have clarified that once a Nobel Prize is awarded, it cannot be withdrawn, transferred, shared, or passed on to another individual.