Donald Trump the peacemaker. That’s the narrative the United States President has proposed in the aftermath of India and Pakistan’s 100-hour war last week – a conflict started by the Pahalgam terror attack and wound down by a ceasefire trumpeted first by him on Truth Social.
Mr Trump has claimed that role at least twice over the past few days – despite India making the sequence of events leading up to the ceasefire quite clear – and repeated it a third time Tuesday before a state dinner hosted by Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Advertisement – Scroll to continue
“Just days ago, my administration successfully brokered a historic ceasefire to stop the escalating violence between India and Pakistan…” the US President declared.
“Both have powerful leaders, strong… good, smart… And it stopped.”
And, no doubt in anticipation of a lavish spread to come, he quipped to reporters that the Indian and Pakistani leaders ought to have a “nice dinner as a mark of getting back together”.
“The whole group (referring to his administration) worked with you… they (India and Pak) are actually getting along now. Maybe we can even get them together a little bit… where they go out and have a nice dinner together. Wouldn’t that be nice? We’ve come a long way,” he warbled.
And with the Crown Prince; his ‘advisor’, Tesla CEO Elon Musk; and US State Secretary Marco Rubio in the audience, as well as press from around the world, Mr Trump doubled down on another of his claims – that he had averted a possible nuclear war between India and Pakistan.
“Millions could have died from that conflict that was getting bigger…”
READ | “Let’s Not Trade Nukes, Let’s Trade…”: Trump To India, Pak
He also claimed he had ‘disciplined’ India and Pakistan by threatening to withhold trade with each nation. “Fellas, come on…” was what he supposedly told Delhi and Islamabad. “Let’s do some trading… not nuclear missiles. Let’s trade things you make so beautifully.”
‘Could’ve Been A Bad Nuke War’
He has also given himself a pat for having stopped a nuclear war.
At a Monday briefing in Washington he seemed to off-script and claim he stopped a “a bad” nuclear conflict, basing his remark on the fact India and Pak have “lots of nuclear weapons”.
READ | “Could’ve Been A Bad Nuke War,” Claims Trump. What PM Said
The ‘trade’ claim was rolled out too; “I said, ‘come on, we’re going to do a lot of trade with you guys… so let’s stop it. Stop it if you want trade’. And then they said ‘we’re going to stop’.”
“People have never used trade the way I have used it,” Mr Trump said.
‘Going To Increase Trade…’
Was trade with India and Pak ever something discussed by Mr Trump?
Well, no. Not according to the US President himself.
READ | Trump’s Big Trade Promise To India, Pak After Ceasefire
On Sunday, hours after claiming the ceasefire, he was back on Truth Social, writing, “While not even discussed, I am going to increase trade, substantially, with both of these great nations.”
That seems to contradict his “let’s do some trading” claim in Riyadh.
India, meanwhile, has flatly rejected any talk of a ceasefire-for-trade-concessions deal, a plotline that seemed believable given Mr Trump’s tariff wars with pretty much the whole world.
‘Trade + Nuclear War Threat’?
These claims – using the prospect of losing US trade to bring India and Pak to heel, and heading off a nuclear war – have been the cornerstone of Mr Trump’s ‘peacemaker’ proclamations.
Neither have been countenanced by India.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has warned Pak against sponsoring further terror attacks (File).
The Indian government made it clear it will not be swayed by ‘nuclear blackmail’ and, on Sunday, outlined events leading up to Pakistan’s phone call to the US, asking for Washington’s intervention. Islamabad reached out fearing Indian military strikes on its nuclear installations.
READ | What Sources Said On Trump’s Trade Claim Over Ceasefire
According to Delhi, the US’ limited (but important) role was telling Pakistan to understand that they had been beaten and to reach out to the Indian government and de-escalate the situation.
This Trump-Pakistan exchange was on Saturday morning.
And, while Pak was doing that (Delhi later said technical difficulties delayed the phone call from Islamabad), the US President hot-footed it to Truth Social to claim credit.
At 5.25pm, 10 minutes before the Indian and Pak military leaders were to speak, Mr Trump claimed a “full and immediate” ceasefire after a “long night of talks” mediated by the US.
The ceasefire was confirmed by India and Pakistan minutes later.
‘Solution For Kashmir’
Meanwhile, Mr Trump has also thrown in at least two offers to mediate an end to the Kashmir issue, despite India’s historically unchanged position on third-party involvement.
New Delhi outlined that position emphatically Tuesday, saying the only ‘talks’ it is willing to hold with Pakistan on Kashmir is the “return of illegally occupied Indian territory”.
This echoed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s firm statement.
READ | ‘Vacate Illegally Occupied J&K’: India’s Demand Won’t Change
Mr Trump had, over the weekend, clubbed his ceasefire credit claim with an offer to “work with you both to see if, after a thousand years, a solution can be arrived at concerning Kashmir”.
He made an offer in 2019 too. And then, as now, it was rejected.
Russia-Ukraine War Rumbles On
Meanwhile, Russia’s war on Ukraine – which began in February 2022 – and which Donald Trump declared he would bring a quick end if elected President – continues with no end in sight.
24 hours – that was the deadline Mr Trump set for himself.
He took oath on January 20. On Jan 22 he announced tariffs on Russia. It seemed a good start. Russia’s Vladimir Putin seemed ready to talk.
Trump, Vance, and Zelenskyy at the White House in February 2025.
But everything seemed to unravel after Ukraine felt bypassed in those talks; Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said ‘nothing can be discussed on Ukraine without Ukraine’.
And that disastrous White House face-off in February – the US President and Vice President up against Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy – seemed the icing on Mr Trump’s failure to end that war.
Since then there have been faltering ceasefires and accusations of violation, including that of a 30-hour truce for Easter last month, a move Russia and Ukraine worked out without the US.
And this week Mr Zelenskyy reinforced his intention to hold direct talks with Mr Putin in Turkey – a first face-to-face since the war began – even though he said he had little hope the Russian would show up.
The Hindkeshariis now available on WhatsApp channels. Click on the link to get all the latest updates from The Hindkesharion your chat.