US President Donald Trump is elated by the unprecedented praise he has received from all over the world for mediating between India and Pakistan and averting an “imminent nuclear war” between the arch-rival nations.
After concluding a trip to the Middle East where he visited Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE to secure $10 trillion deals, President Trump sat down with the host of Fox News.
“The biggest success that I have ever been given credit for,” President Trump acknowledged with joy to the Fox News host.
He admitted that India and Pakistan are “not a little bit” but “major nuclear powers” and explained how, amid a full-blown war between these two countries, he averted a major mishap in the South Asian region.
“They were angry. And the next phase was, probably did you see, what was getting tit for tat. It was getting deeper and more missiles. Everyone was stronger, stronger to a point, with the next one was, you know what the N (Nuclear) word is. It’s a very nasty word in a lot of ways. The N-word is used in a nuclear sense. It’s the worst thing that can happen. And I think they were very close,” President Trump told the interviewer.
Then he explained what tools he employed to achieve the ceasefire. “The hatred was great, and I said, We are going to talk about trade. We are going to do a lot of trade….I am using trade to settle scores and make peace.”
He expressed relief that his efforts bore fruit. “That was going to be a nuclear war, I think, or close, very close. You were right there. And now everyone is happy.”
“I had a great conversation with Pakistan. You know, we cannot forget them. Because it does take two to tango. And with India, I felt very certain, and with Pakistan, I also talked about trade. They would love to trade.”
“They are brilliant people. They make incredible products. And we don’t do much trade with them. And yet I have a good relationship. I told my people, call them up. Let’s start trading and meeting because I am a man of my word.”
Though the United States of America is the largest trading partner of India, their bilateral trade had touched almost $129bn in 2024. However, it favoured Delhi most as it ran a $45.7bn surplus with Washington. No surprise that in the same breath, President Trump blamed India for hurting US businesses.
“India is one of the highest-taxed nations in the world. They make it almost impossible to do business,” remarked President Trump. And then he repeated that: “You know they are willing to cut 100% of their tariff for the United States.”
