 "US President Donald Trump delivers the first State of the Union address of his second term to a joint session of Congress in the House Chamber of the United States Capitol in Washington, DC, on February 24, 2026. (Photo by Kenny HOLSTON / POOL / AFP)")
US President Donald Trump did not lose the chance to claim, yet again, that he stopped the India-Pakistan conflict in 2025, saying that Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif told him that 35 million people would have died if he had not ended the war.
“In my first 10 months, I ended eight wars… Pakistan and India would have had a nuclear war. 35 million people said the Prime Minister of Pakistan would have died if it were not for my involvement,” Trump said during his State of the Union address.
This is not the first time the president has taken credit for ending not just the India-Pakistan conflict, but also seven other wars, including the one between Thailand and Cambodia.
Quick Reads
View AllHas Trump stopped wars?
There is no clear agreement on how many conflicts Donald Trump has definitively resolved or played a meaningful role in settling. Even in situations where hostilities have eased, analysts continue to debate how central his role was in brokering peace.
Trump has asserted that he helped bring an end to tensions or fighting involving Israel and Iran; Egypt and Ethiopia; Thailand and Cambodia; Serbia and Kosovo; Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo; Armenia and Azerbaijan; as well as India and Pakistan.
In several instances, clashes have flared up again after announcements of ceasefires or peace agreements, including between Thailand and Cambodia and between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In other situations, such as the dispute between Egypt and Ethiopia, there was no active war, though US officials sought to reduce tensions over a major dam project that risked escalating into open conflict.
What has India said?
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar denied US role in mediation between the two neighbouring countries.
In an interview with Newsweek, Jaishankar said, “I can tell you that I was in the room when Vice President Vance spoke to Prime Minister Modi on the night of May 9, saying that the Pakistanis would launch a very massive assault on India…We did not accept certain things, and the Prime Minister was impervious to what the Pakistanis were threatening to do.”