United States President Donald Trump has asserted that he personally prevented a potential nuclear exchange between India and Pakistan in May by threatening both nations with crippling 350 percent tariffs on all trade with America. Speaking at the US-Saudi Investment Forum alongside Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Trump described the episode as one of several global crises he resolved through economic leverage rather than traditional diplomacy.
According to Trump, the confrontation escalated after India’s Operation Sindoor airstrikes on May 7 targeted terrorist facilities in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in response to the Pahalgam attack that claimed 26 civilian lives. He claimed intense fighting brought the nuclear-armed neighbours to the brink of catastrophe, prompting him to intervene by warning both governments that continued hostilities would end all commerce with the United States unless they immediately stood down.
Trump recounted instructing Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to prepare the unprecedented tariff order and telling the two countries they could resume trade only after agreeing to a ceasefire. He stated that Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif subsequently telephoned to express gratitude for saving millions of lives, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi allegedly called to declare “we’re not going to go to war” and thanked him for the intervention.
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The president has repeated variations of this account more than sixty times since announcing on May 10 that India and Pakistan had accepted a “full and immediate” ceasefire following overnight talks mediated by Washington. Trump framed the episode as proof that tariffs are a more effective foreign-policy tool than military action, claiming five of eight recent international conflicts were resolved through economic pressure.
India has consistently rejected any suggestion of third-party mediation, insisting the May 10 understanding was reached exclusively through direct hotline discussions between the Directors General of Military Operations of the two armed forces and that no external pressure influenced the decision to restore calm along the Line of Control.
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