US President Donald Trump has stated that the “deal” he is most proud of is preventing a possible nuclear conflict between India and Pakistan through trade rather than violence.
In recent weeks, Trump has repeatedly asserted that he warned both countries that the US would halt trade with them if they continued their hostilities. However, India firmly denied that trade was discussed during talks between Indian and American leaders amid the military clashes, effectively rejecting Washington’s claims that its trade offer helped de-escalate the situation.
On Friday, Trump told reporters, “I think the deal I’m most proud of is the fact that we’re dealing with India, we’re dealing with Pakistan and we were able to stop potentially a nuclear war through trade as opposed through bullets. Normally they do it through bullets. We do it through trade. So I’m very proud of that. Nobody talks about it but we had a very nasty potential war going on between Pakistan and India. And now, if you look, they’re doing fine.”
He added, “It was getting very bad. It was getting very nasty. They are both nuclear powers.” Trump also mentioned that representatives from Pakistan would visit Washington next week.
Speaking at Joint Base Andrews after leaving Air Force One, he said, “India, as you know, we’re very close to making a deal with India. I wouldn’t have any interest in making a deal with either if they were going to be at war with each other. I would not and I’ll let them know.”
This marked the second time in one day that Trump claimed his administration had prevented India and Pakistan from engaging in war. During a press conference in the Oval Office alongside Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Trump stated, “We stopped India and Pakistan from fighting. I believe that could have turned out into a nuclear disaster.”
He expressed gratitude towards the leaders of both nations and his own team, saying, “We talked trade and we said ‘We can’t trade with people that are shooting at each other and potentially using nuclear weapons’.” He further praised the leaders, saying, “They understood, and they agreed, and that all stopped.” Trump concluded, “We are stopping others from fighting also because ultimately, we can fight better than anybody. We have the greatest military in the world. We have the greatest leaders in the world.”
Meanwhile, India has consistently maintained that the cessation of hostilities with Pakistan was achieved through direct dialogue between the two countries’ Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs).
An all-party delegation of Indian Parliamentarians, led by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, is scheduled to visit Washington DC around June 3 after trips to Guyana, Panama, Colombia, and Brazil, to highlight India’s firm stance against terrorism and Pakistan’s links to it.
These multi-party delegations have emphasized that the recent conflict with Pakistan was sparked by the terror attack in Pahalgam, not by India’s retaliatory Operation Sindoor as claimed by Islamabad. Operation Sindoor targeted terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir following the April 22 Pahalgam attack, which killed 26 civilians.
After four days of intense cross-border drone and missile strikes, India and Pakistan reached an agreement on May 10 to end the hostilities.