US President Donald Trump has once again asserted that his intervention helped prevent a full-scale war between India and Pakistan earlier this year, this time crediting the use of tariffs as a key tool in averting conflict between the two nuclear-armed nations.
Speaking from the White House, Trump claimed his strategic use of economic pressure not only boosted US revenues but also played a role in maintaining global peace.
“If I didn’t have the power of tariffs, you would have at least four of the seven wars raging… If you look at India and Pakistan, they were ready to go at it. Seven planes were shot down,” he said, suggesting his approach forced both sides to back down.
#WATCH | On whether he would shift his position on tariffs, US President Donald J Trump says, “… If I didn’t have the power of tariffs, you would have at least four of the seven wars raging… If you look at India and Pakistan, they were ready to go at it. Seven planes were… pic.twitter.com/oI3r4cnzAV
— ANI (@ANI) October 6, 2025
Trump claimed his handling of trade tariffs allowed the United States to act as a peacekeeper in global conflicts.
“I don’t want to say exactly what I said, but what I said was very effective… Not only did we make hundreds of billions of dollars, but we’re a peacekeeper because of tariffs,” he added, referring specifically to the India-Pakistan truce.
Tensions between India and Pakistan escalated earlier in May, following India’s launch of Operation Sindoor, a military strike targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan. The move came in response to the Pahalgam terror attack, which claimed the lives of 26 civilians. A ceasefire was announced on 10 May, which India has maintained was a bilateral decision, independent of foreign involvement.
However, Trump has repeatedly claimed credit for de-escalating the situation. Speaking last week, he said:
“India and Pakistan were going at it. I called them both… They had just shot down seven planes… I said, if you do this, there’s not going to be any trade, and I stopped the war. It was raging for four days.”
He further claimed that his role was praised by Pakistan’s military chief, General Asim Munir, and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif during a recent meeting.
“He (Munir) said to a group of people that were with us… that this man (Trump) saved millions of lives because he saved the war from going on. That war was going to get very bad… I loved the way he said it,” Trump recounted.
While Trump’s version of events has stirred international attention, India has consistently maintained that the ceasefire decision was made bilaterally, without any external mediation.