Trump Repeats Claim Of ‘Stopping’ India-Pak War With New Twist
US President Donald Trump has escalated his recurring claims about personally engineering a ceasefire between India and Pakistan amid their 2025 military standoff, now asserting that he warned both nations of 200 per cent tariffs and that as many as 11 fighter jets were lost in the clashes.
Addressing the inaugural Board of Peace event in Washington on February 19, 2026, Trump recounted his alleged intervention during the May 2025 confrontation between the two nuclear-armed neighbours. He described placing direct calls to the leaders, including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whom he said he knew well, and issuing a stark economic ultimatum.
“I got on the phone with both of them… I said, listen, I’m not doing trade deals with you two guys if you don’t settle this up,” Trump stated. He added: “If you fight, I’m going to put 200 per cent tariffs on each of your countries.” According to Trump, both sides were eager to continue fighting until the prospect of severe financial losses prompted de-escalation. “They both wanted to fight. But when it came to money, there’s nothing like money. When it came to losing a lot of money, they said, I guess we don’t want to fight… 11 jets were shot down. Very expensive jets,” he declared, raising his previous tally of seven downed aircraft.
The US president highlighted a moment involving Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who attended the event. Trump invited Sharif to stand and referenced a statement he attributed to the Pakistani leader, crediting Trump with saving 25 million lives by halting the conflict. “He said in front of our Chief of Staff that President Trump saved 25 million lives when he stopped the war between us and India,” Trump recalled, describing the outcome as “a beautiful thing.”
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Trump has frequently touted his role in resolving the standoff, including an earlier social media post on May 10, 2025, announcing a “full and immediate” ceasefire following purported US-mediated talks. He frames such interventions as part of a wider pattern, claiming to have ended multiple conflicts in his second term through economic pressure.
India has consistently rejected assertions of external mediation. New Delhi maintains that the end to hostilities resulted solely from direct coordination between the Directors General of Military Operations of the Indian and Pakistani armed forces. The escalation began with India’s Operation Sindoor on May 7, 2025, which struck terrorist facilities in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir following the April 22 Pahalgam attack that killed 26 civilians.
Delivered in the company of global figures including Sharif, Trump’s latest comments reinforce his emphasis on trade leverage as a diplomatic tool, though key elements of his account continue to be disputed by India.