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'Your head's going to spin': Donald Trump's big tariff warning claim during India-Pakistan ‘war’
Donald Trump claims he intervened to prevent the conflict between India and Pakistan by warning both of severe trade tariffs.
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday once again claimed that he directly intervened to stop a potential nuclear confrontation between India and Pakistan in May, boasting that he warned both of crippling trade tariffs so high that “your head’s going to spin".
Speaking at a cabinet meeting in the White House, Donald Trump said he personally spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and then reached out to Pakistan to de-escalate hostilities.
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“I am talking to a very terrific man, Modi of India. I said, 'what's going on with you and Pakistan?' Then I spoke to Pakistan about trade. I said, 'what's going on with you and India?' This has been going on for a hell of a long time, sometimes under different names for hundreds of years,” he said.
It is to be noted that India and Pakistan became independent nations in 1947, following the end of nearly 200 years of British colonial rule in the subcontinent. Until then, they had been a single country.
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Trump went on to claim that his intervention forced Islamabad to step back. “But I said, 'what's going on?' I said, 'I don't want to make a trade deal….' I said, 'no, no, I don't want to make a trade deal with you. You are going to have a nuclear war. You guys are going to end up in a nuclear war'. And that was very important to them. I said, 'call me back tomorrow, but we are not going to do any deals with you, or we are going to put tariffs on you that are so high. I don't give a damn. Your head's going to spin. You are not going to end up in a war'. Within about five hours, it was done. Now, maybe it starts again, I don't know. I don't think so. But I will stop it if it does. We can't let these things happen,” Trump claimed.
Donald Trump repeats jets down claim
The US President also repeated his earlier assertion that seven or more fighter jets were downed during the escalation.
“I saw they were fighting, then I saw seven jets were shot down. I said, 'That's not good.' That's a lot of jets. You know, USD 150 million planes were shot down. A lot of them. Seven, maybe more than that. They didn't even report the real number,” Trump said.
Trump had previously mentioned a lower figure of five jets, and insisted that trade pressure helped prevent a wider conflict.
“I have stopped all of these wars. A big one would have been India and Pakistan...,” he said during a bilateral with South Korea’s President on Monday.
He added, “The war with India and Pakistan was the next level that was going to be a nuclear war... They already shot down 7 jets - that was raging. I said, 'You want to trade? We are not doing any trade or anything with you if you keep fighting, you have got 24 hours to settle it'. They said, 'Well, there's no more war going on.' I used that on numerous occasions. I used trade and whatever I had to use...”
This is not the first time Trump has spoken of his role.
Trump's earlier claim
In July, he had said India and Pakistan were on the brink of nuclear conflict after the Pahalgam terror attack that left 26 people dead, and that he stepped in “at a crucial time".
His latest remarks came a day after the White House credited his foreign policy with helping secure a “ceasefire” between India and Pakistan following Operation Sindoor, which targeted terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir on May 7. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt cited India–Pakistan tensions as an example of Trump’s conflict-management approach.
India, however, has consistently denied any third-party role. Officials have maintained that Pakistan’s Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) reached out to his Indian counterpart on May 10, resulting in a direct ceasefire agreement between the two militaries.
The May 7 Pahalgam terror attack, claimed by The Resistance Front (TRF), killed 26 people.
The US on June 17 designated TRF a Foreign Terrorist Organisation (FTO) and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT). “The organisation claimed responsibility for the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir, which claimed the lives of 26 civilians,” US secretary of state Marco Rubio said.
Welcoming the move, eternal affairs minister S Jaishankar noted, “The Resistance Front is a front organisation of Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, and we welcome this designation as a strong affirmation of India–US counter-terrorism cooperation.”
India braces for 50% tariffs
The US will impose a crushing 50 per cent tariff on some Indian goods starting Wednesday, the highest in Asia, as Trump presses ahead with the levies to punish New Delhi for buying Russian oil.
The new tariffs will double the existing 25 per cent duty on Indian exports that took effect on August 7, dealing another blow to ties between the two nations. After years of nurturing closer economic and security links, India and the US now find themselves at odds over Trump’s trade war.
The White House outlined the new tariffs — set to take effect at 12:01 am in Washington, or 9:31 am in New Delhi — in a pair of notices Monday and Tuesday, signaling that a reprieve for India is unlikely as Trump’s efforts to broker peace between Russia and Ukraine stall.
PM Modi responds
On Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted he can't compromise on interests of farmers, cattle-rearers, small-scale industries, cautioning “pressure on us may increase, but we will bear it”.
Addressing a gathering in Ahmedabad after launching multiple projects, he said, “For Modi, interests of farmers, cattle rearers and small scale industries are paramount. Pressure on us may increase, but we will bear it all.”
He pushed for the widespread use of swadeshi goods. "All of us should follow the mantra of buying only 'made in India' goods. Businessmen should keep a big board outside their establishments, saying they sell only 'swadeshi' goods," he said.
"I think I am fortunate to get the love and blessings of lakhs of people," said Modi, who in the evening held a roadshow in Ahmedabad.
(With inputs from ANI, Bloomberg, PTI)
