confuse India with Iran while repeating his claim that he used tariffs to stop a potential nuclear war between India and Pakistan.
He has repeatedly boasted that he halted wars using tariffs, even asserting that his trade policies helped end “five or six” out of “eight wars” during his presidency.
Asked whether the United States was entering a prolonged trade war with China, Trump gave a lengthy defence of his trade policy.
Speaking to reporters at the White House, “We have a 100 per cent tariff. If we didn’t have tariffs, we would be exposed as being a nothing. We would have no defence. They’ve used tariffs on us, but we’ve never had anybody sitting in that chair who felt the need to do it.”
In his response, Trump claimed that tariffs were responsible for keeping peace across the world and even ending wars. However, in the process, he appeared to confuse India with Iran, saying he was “in the midst of negotiating a trade deal with Iran,” while referring to an incident involving Pakistan.
“As an example, if you look at Pakistan and Iran,” Trump said. “I told them I was negotiating a trade deal with Iran, and Pakistan was going to be in line. Because of tariffs, they all wanted to negotiate much differently. Then I heard they were shooting at each other, and I said, ‘Are you guys going to go to war? Two nuclear powers we are thinking about.'”
Trump claimed he warned both sides that if they went to war, he would impose a 200 per cent tariff and ban them from doing business with the United States. “Within 24 hours, the war ended. That would have been a nuclear war,” he added.
TRUMP SAYS SHEHBAZ SHARIF THANKED HIM FOR STOPPING WAR
Trump once again repeated that for preventing a nuclear war between India and Pakistan.
“The Prime Minister of Pakistan got up the other day, said so beautifully, he says, ‘You saved millions of lives,'” Trump said. “He told that to a group of people right in this office. He said, the President saved millions of lives.”
Trump added that Sharif’s remarks referred to a supposed standoff with India. “What he’s referring to is the fact that that would have been with India a nuclear war. That was getting very close. Seven aircraft were shot down,” Trump claimed.
SHEHBAZ SHARIF SHOWERS PRAISE ON TRUMP
At the Gaza Peace Summit in Sharm El-Sheikh, and even nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Trump had invited Sharif to share his remarks before world leaders, saying, “Do you want to say something? Say what you said to me the other day.”
“Today is one of the greatest days in contemporary history because peace has been achieved after untiring efforts led by President Trump,” Sharif said in his speech. “Pakistan has nominated President Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize. He is the most genuine and the most wonderful candidate for this honour.”
Sharif then delivered an emotional five-minute tribute, calling Trump a “man of peace” who “made the world a place to live with peace and prosperity.”
Throughout his remarks in White House, Trump defended his use of tariffs as a tool of global stability. “Of the eight wars, I would say tariffs are directly responsible for me ending five or six of them. Without the tariffs, you’d have wars raging all over the world,” he said.
Trump’s anecdote has drawn attention to his apparent confusion between India and Iran, India has consistently maintained that the understanding on cessation of hostilities with Pakistan was reached following direct talks between the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) of the two militaries.
India and Pakistan reached an understanding on May 10 to end the conflict after four days of intense cross-border drone and missile strikes.