President Donald Trump delivered a casual response to the escalating crisis between nuclear rivals India and Pakistan early on Wednesday.
Pressed by reporters on India’s missile strikes—launched in retaliation for a deadly attack on tourists in Indian-controlled Kashmir last month—Trump called it “a shame.”
“Just heard about it,” Trump said at the Oval Office. “I guess people knew something was going to happen based on a little bit of the past. They’ve been fighting for a long time.”
Trump then added: “I just hope it ends very quickly.”
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on X he was “monitoring the situation between India and Pakistan closely.”
“I echo @POTUS’s comments earlier today that this hopefully ends quickly and will continue to engage both Indian and Pakistani leadership towards a peaceful resolution,” Rubio wrote.
The strikes, which hit targets in both Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir, followed a brutal assault at a popular scenic meadow in the town of Pahalgam in the Himalayan mountains that left at least 26 tourists dead and 17 more wounded, on April 22. The attack has ratcheted tensions up to their highest levels in more than two decades.
Pakistan—which denies any involvement in the Pahalgam attack—claims it shot down five Indian Air Force jets and a drone in an act of “self-defense,” calling India’s Wednesday missile strikes “an act of war.”
A Pakistan military spokesperson said that the Indian strikes killed at least 26 civilians, and injured 46.
India has yet to confirm the loss of aircraft, but insists its missiles targeted “terrorist infrastructure” sites.
The disputed Kashmir region is divided between India and Pakistan, but both nations claim full sovereignty over it. The nuclear-armed neighbors have disputed the territory since 1947, when India and Pakistan became independent states.
Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, a spokesman for the Pakistan military, said Pakistan would “respond to this aggression at a time, place, and means of our own choice,” Reuters reported.
“All of these engagements have been done as a defensive measure. However, we will take all the steps necessary for defending the honor, integrity and sovereignty of Pakistan, at all cost,” Chaudhry added.
Meanwhile, Trump’s jaw-dropping response to the escalating situation drew a fierce backlash online.
X account Republicans against Trump wrote: “No leadership.”
One X user commented: “Shocked he didn’t blame Joe Biden for it.”
“Trump’s response is a masterclass in vagueness: ‘just heard,’ ‘a shame,’ ‘many centuries.’ No strategy, no urgency, just historical filler and a wish,” another wrote. “When nuclear tensions rise, the world needs an American leadership, not a shrug in a suit.”
A State Department spokesperson said the U.S. is “aware of the reports, however we have no assessment to offer at this time.”
“This remains an evolving situation, and we are closely monitoring developments,” the spokesperson said.
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