President Donald Trump ramped up his crusade to win a Nobel Peace Prize on Wednesday, claiming that he had halted a “nuclear” war between Iran and Pakistan.
Trump told reporters who had gathered in the Oval Office with several leading members of his administration that he had prevented the two nations, which he said had been “shooting at each other,” from descending into a conflict that would have had a devastating impact on the world.
The 79-year-old, who has claimed to have ended several nonexistent wars, said he had picked up the phone to the leaders of Iran and Pakistan, and threatened “200 percent tariffs” if they didn’t cease, which Trump claimed did the job.
“If you look at Pakistan and Iran, I told them I was in the midst of negotiating a trade deal with… Iran and Pakistan was gonna be in line,” he said.
“And because of tariffs, they all wanna negotiate much differently. We were making a good deal. And then I heard that they’re shooting at each other.
“And I said during one of my conversations, ‘Are you guys gonna go to war, two nuclear powers?’ I said, ‘Here’s the deal. You go to war, I’m gonna put a 200 percent tariff [on you both]. I’m gonna stop you from doing any business in the United States.’
“I said it to both of ’em within 24 hours. The war ended. That would’ve been a nuclear war.”
In his attempt to take credit for yet more global peace, Trump appears to have been confusing Iran with India, which in May was engaged in a brief armed conflict with Pakistan.
While Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has credited Trump with helping secure the ceasefire between the warring neighbors, the country’s foreign minister said India—which has flatly denied Trump played any role in ending the conflict—refused any third-party mediation.
Trump’s new boast is the latest in a growing list of peacemaking tales he has spun while pressing for a Nobel Peace Prize, which he was furious not to win last week. The president has previously touted his role in resolving real conflicts between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and between Thailand and Cambodia.
But not all of Trump’s tales ring true. In September, he insisted he had “solved” an imaginary conflict between Cambodia and Armenia—two nations 4,000 miles apart. Days earlier, he bragged he’d stopped a showdown between Azerbaijan and “Albania,” apparently meaning Armenia. The confusion led to mockery from fellow world leaders.
Trump also changes the number of wars he claims to have stopped. In August, he said he’d ended “six wars” but couldn’t remember a “big one.”
The president has been backed by his press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, who was ripped in August after she made sweeping claims about the president resolving up to “seven wars” and even “pre-wars” without providing evidence.
All of this is said to have left Nobel insiders struggling to take Trump’s appeals for the prize seriously.
In Trump’s defense, Iran and Pakistan have previously clashed after Iran fired missiles at its eastern neighbor. Iran said the missiles were targeted at militants of the Baloch separatist group, Jaish ul-Adl.
However, that was in January 2024, a year before Trump was inaugurated for a second term.
In June, Trump took credit for having bombed three of Iran’s nuclear facilities, followed by a ceasefire between the Middle Eastern pariah nation and Israel involving U.S.-led mediation, which could be another reason for his confusion.
However, he and the Iranian supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, are sworn enemies and are unlikely to be on good enough terms for a phone call about trade tariffs.
In any case, the U.S. maintains sweeping Iran sanctions that ban nearly all U.S. trade with the country, with narrow exemptions for humanitarian items, including food, medicine, and medical devices.
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
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