‘They Were About to Go Nuclear’: Trump Calls India-Pakistan Truce a Major Victory of His Second Term

Marking the completion of the first 365 days of his second term in office, US President Donald Trump on Tuesday reiterated his assertion that his administration played a decisive role in preventing a major military escalation between India and Pakistan last year.

Speaking during a lengthy press conference at the White House, Trump said the two South Asian neighbours were on the brink of a nuclear confrontation following India’s Operation Sindoor strikes, and claimed that US intervention helped avert a catastrophe.

“India and Pakistan were engaged in a fierce battle. Eight aircraft were shot down,” Trump told reporters. “I thought they were going to go nuclear.”

Trump presented the episode as part of what he described as a broader record of diplomatic achievements, claiming he had ended “eight unendable wars in 10 months.”

He further stated that Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif personally credited him for helping de-escalate the crisis during Sharif’s visit to Washington last year.

“Prime Minister Sharif told me, ‘President Trump saved 10 million people — and maybe much more than that,’” Trump said. “They are both nuclear nations.”

Later in the briefing, Trump expanded on his belief that preventing large-scale conflict carries far greater weight than symbolic recognition, responding to a question about whether a Nobel Peace Prize would benefit ordinary Americans.

“If you look at any one of those conflicts and tally up the figures, you’re talking about millions of people,” Trump said. “You multiply it eight times. When you consider Pakistan and India, it might have been 10, 15, or even 20 million people. So I saved millions of people.”

The White House has repeatedly highlighted the India-Pakistan truce as a signature foreign policy achievement of Trump’s second term.

In an official statement released to mark the anniversary, the administration listed “brokering a Ceasefire between India and Pakistan” among what it described as its most consequential accomplishments.

The document, titled “365 WINS IN 365 DAYS: President Trump’s Return Marks New Era of Success, Prosperity”, characterised Trump’s first year back in office as “the most accomplished first year of any presidential term in modern history.”

“In just 365 days, President Trump has delivered truly transformative results,” the statement claimed, pointing to reshored investments worth trillions of dollars, peace deals ending multiple conflicts, record domestic energy production, negative net migration “for the first time in 50 years,” a historic decline in homicides, and sweeping reductions in the federal bureaucracy.

Under the heading “Reasserting American Leadership on the World Stage,” the White House again underlined Trump’s role in what it described as peace-building between New Delhi and Islamabad.

Since May 10 last year — when Trump announced that India and Pakistan had agreed to a “full and immediate” ceasefire following what he called a “long night” of Washington-mediated talks — the president has repeated this claim roughly ninety times across speeches, interviews and social media posts.

However, India has consistently disputed that narrative. New Delhi has repeatedly maintained that the cessation of hostilities with Pakistan was the result of bilateral military and diplomatic engagement, and not external mediation.

Despite India’s position, the Trump administration continues to frame the episode as evidence of renewed American leadership and the president’s personal role in preventing global conflict.