Washington [US], November 20 : US President Donald Trump has once again claimed that he personally stopped India and Pakistan from approaching a nuclear confrontation, saying he warned both nations with harsh economic measures during a tense period.
He made the remarks while addressing the US Saudi Investment Forum on Wednesday.
Trump's comments come months after India carried out Operation Sindoor in May 2025, launched after the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people. He said he had cautioned New Delhi and Islamabad about severe economic consequences during an earlier phase of tension.
"You know, I was talking about the different wars, and it's, look, India, Pakistan, they were going to go out with nuclear weapons. I said, that's okay, you can go at it, but I'm putting a 350 per cent tariff on each country, no more trade with the United States," Trump said.
According to him, one of the sides responded, "No, no, you can't do that."
Trump said he replied, "I'm going to do it. Come back to me and I'll take it down. But you, 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."
He added, "They said, we don't like that. I said, I don't care if you like it or not."
Trump went on to say, "So I was all set. I told a 350 per cent tariff to settle that war. If you, if you don't, we'll make a nice trade deal."
Continuing his remarks, he said, "Now, no other president would have done that. Another guy would have, like Joe Biden doesn't even know what countries we're talking about. He wouldn't have any idea. There'd be no tariffs on anything. Just the whole world would go to hell."
He said tariffs had been key in resolving several disputes. "But no, I use tariffs to settle all these, not all of them. Five of the eight were settled because of the economy, because of trade, because of tariffs. I'll tell you what the Prime Minister of Pakistan (Shehbaz Sharif) called me," he said, quoting him as saying, "Thank you very much."
Trump continued, "He actually said, I saved millions. And he said in front of Susie, he said President Trump saved millions and millions of lives."
He then claimed, "And I got a call from Prime Minister Modi saying, we're done. I said, you're done with what? 'We're not going to go to war'. I said, Thank you very much. Let's make a deal."
The US President added, "But I saved a lot of people, millions of people, on many other wars."
The brief four-day confrontation between India and Pakistan ended after both sides held direct talks. Soon after, Trump announced on social media that the two countries had agreed to a "full and immediate ceasefire" following a "long night" of US-mediated discussions.
Trump has repeatedly said he "helped settle" the tensions between the neighbours. India, however, has consistently denied any third-party involvement, while Pakistan has publicly credited Trump for helping to broker the ceasefire during the May conflict.
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