US President Donald Trump doubled down on his oft-repeated claim of ending a “nuclear” war between India and Pakistan on Thursday — insisting that tariffs were an effective deterrent. The POTUS deviated slightly from earlier assertions to contend that ‘eight planes were shot down’ as the conflict escalated. Trump claimed that he had received a call about both countries declaring a truce after threatening to withhold trade.
Trump told the America Business Forum Miami that he had been in the midst of negotiating trade deals with India and Pakistan when the conflict broke out. The US President claimed that he had refused to trade with either country until the crisis was resolved — telling the audience that it would have been “never happened without tariffs”.
“Seven planes were shot down, and the eighth was really badly wounded. Eight planes were shot down essentially. I said: ‘This is war. I’m not going to make any trade deals with you guys unless you agree to peace’. The two nations said: ‘No way. This has nothing to do…’ I said: ‘It has everything to do. You are nuclear powers. I’m not trading with you. We’re not making any deals with you if you’re at war with each other’. A day later, I get a call saying: ‘We made peace’. They stopped,” Trump said to applause.
The US President had been the first to publicise news of a ceasefire — taking to social media on May 10 with claims that India and Pakistan had agreed after a “long night” of talks mediated by Washington. The assertion has been repeated nearly a hundred times since then as the POTUS strove to secure a Nobel Peace Prize. Trump now claims credit for ending eight wars since taking office in January 2025.
India has consistently denied any third-party intervention and maintains that the ceasefire was wrought through direct communication between military leaders from both countries. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also communicated this stance to Trump during a telephonic conversation.
“President Trump clearly that during this period, there was no talk at any stage on subjects like India-US trade deal or US mediation between India and Pakistan,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Vikram Mistri had said in a press statement.
