Overview

• In Oval Office remarks on Monday, the president said tariffs help the United States stop wars and declared, “we’re a peacekeeper because of tariffs.”
• He again asserted that threats to cut off trade and impose tariffs compelled India and Pakistan to halt fighting during May’s Operation Sindoor, claiming multiple aircraft were downed before his intervention.
• He also said Pakistan’s army chief, Asim Munir, praised his role in averting escalation, presenting this as his account of a recent interaction.
• India has repeatedly rejected that narrative, with the Ministry of External Affairs and Prime Minister Narendra Modi stating the truce was arranged directly through DGMO-to-DGMO communications and that no foreign leader asked India to stop operations.
• The escalation followed an April 22 terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir that killed 26 civilians; India launched cross-border strikes on May 7 and a ceasefire was announced on May 10.