Donald Trump has again claimed that he played a key role in stopping a potential war between India and Pakistan. According to Trump, he warned both countries that he would impose 350% tariffs on them if they continued their military conflict.
Speaking at a US-Saudi investment forum, Trump said he told Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pakistani leaders that he was serious about cutting off trade if they didn’t back down. He allegedly told them, “You can go at it, but I’m putting a 350 percent tariff on each country. No more trade with the United States.” He also warned that he wouldn’t allow a nuclear escalation, saying he couldn’t have “nuclear dust floating over Los Angeles.”
Trump added that he instructed his Treasury Secretary to prepare to enforce this massive tariff. He claimed that if the two nations agreed to de-escalate, a “nice trade deal” could follow.
He said he’s used his tariff power before to “settle” wars claiming that out of eight conflicts, five ended because of his economic pressure rather than fighting.
Trump went on to say that Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called him to thank him, citing “saving millions of lives.” He also claimed that Prime Minister Modi called him and said, “We’re not going to go to war.” Trump responded by saying, “Let’s make a deal.”
He has repeated this claim more than 60 times, that his trade threats helped defuse the India-Pakistan crisis. However, India has consistently denied these assertions, rejecting the idea that a third-party (like Trump) mediated the truce