In fresh remarks on the brief but dangerous military escalation between Pakistan and India earlier this year, US President Donald Trump has claimed that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif privately thanked him for “saving millions of lives” by forcing both countries to stand down.
Speaking at the US–Saudi Investment Forum in Washington on Wednesday, Trump revisited the crisis triggered in May after a deadly attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir. New Delhi blamed Islamabad , an allegation Pakistan rejected and both sides exchanged a series of limited military strikes before a ceasefire was announced, which Trump has repeatedly portrayed as his personal diplomatic achievement.
“I’m good at settling disputes,” Trump told the audience. “India and Pakistan — they were going to go at it, nuclear weapons. I said that’s fine, but I’m putting a 350% tariff on each country. No more trade with the United States.”
Trump, mimicking the protest he claimed came from both sides, said the tariff threat forced New Delhi and Islamabad to “come back” and agree to de-escalate. “I’m not going to have you shooting nuclear weapons at each other, killing millions of people and having nuclear dust floating over Los Angeles,” he said.
The president added that during the aftermath of the crisis, Pakistan’s prime minister called him to convey gratitude. “He actually said I saved millions and millions of lives,” Trump claimed, referring to Shehbaz Sharif and appearing to gesture toward his chief of staff, Susie Wiles.
Trump also said that India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, phoned him to assure him that New Delhi had no intention of continuing the confrontation — a claim Indian officials have previously disputed. New Delhi has maintained that the ceasefire had nothing to do with Trump’s intervention.
The US president used the speech to highlight what he described as a pattern of ending conflicts through threats of economic pressure, saying “five out of eight” such disputes he took credit for resolving were settled via tariff threats.
He also revisited his claims of helping broker a Gaza peace plan in October and expressed frustration with Vladimir Putin for resisting efforts to end Russia’s war in Ukraine. “I thought that was going to be my easy one,” he said. “But I’m a little disappointed in President Putin right now.”
Trump further suggested he would now turn his attention to the conflict in Sudan, after what he called a “very powerful” request from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
The US president has previously asserted that between five and eight aircraft were shot down during the May confrontation – figures neither India nor Pakistan have confirmed. He has repeatedly praised Shehbaz Sharif and Pakistan’s army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, following their meetings with him in Washington in September.
