Donald Trump is claiming he has ended
six or seven wars.
>> If you look at the six deals that we
made peace and and you know long-term
longunning wars, I didn't do any
ceasefires. If I weren't Iran, you'd
have right now six major wars going on.
>> And you know, I've gotten I've solved
seven wars. We ended seven wars.
>> President Trump has brokered on average
about one peace deal or ceasefire per
month during his six months in office.
But what and where are these wars? And
has he really ended them?
>> The self-described president of peace
has claimed credit for resolving the
conflict between Israel and Iran. In
June, Israel launched strikes on Iranian
nuclear sites. Iran then launched
retaliatory strikes. For a time, allout
war looked possible. The US then
directly joined the conflict with
American planes dropping bunker buster
bombs on Iranian nuclear facilities.
Trump then claimed, "It was my great
honor to destroy all nuclear facilities
and capability and then stop the war."
After the US strikes, the tit for tat
between Israel and Iran did largely come
to an end, but experts say Qatar played
the lead mediator role with some help
from Washington. And the ceasefire is
far from stable as Israel says it
retains the right to attack Iran again
if it begins to rebuild its nuclear
program.
Trump also says he ended a long-standing
conflict between the Democratic Republic
of Congo and Rwanda. Rwanda is accused
of backing the M23 rebel group. Rwanda
claims Congo cooperates with hostile
militias operating near the border.
Fighting intensified in the last year,
creating a humanitarian crisis and
raising fears of a regional war
involving neighboring countries. The US
was involved in mediating a ceasefire.
>> This is a tremendous breakthrough. In a
few short months, we've now achieved
peace between India and Pakistan, Israel
and Iran, and the DRC and Rwanda. He
hosted leaders from Rwanda and the DRC
at the White House where the two
countries agreed to work on humanitarian
border and security issues. While Trump
did play a key role here, war has not
officially ended. And amid an unstable
ceasefire, violence hasn't fully
stopped.
In July came another conflict involving
contested borders. Tensions that have
been bubbling for centuries escalated
between Thailand and Cambodia as troops
exchanged fire along the border, with
each blaming the other for starting a
fight that led to the deaths of several
civilians, displacing hundreds of
thousands. Trump refused to negotiate a
trade deal with either country unless
fighting stopped. An unconditional
ceasefire was then reached at talks
mediated by Malaysia. Then came, you
guessed it, another truth post. Trump
wrote, "Just spoke to the acting prime
minister of Thailand and prime minister
of Cambodia. I am pleased to announce
that after the involvement of President
Donald J. Trump, both countries have
reached a ceasefire and peace. I am
proud to be the president of peace, that
peace is a fragile one, but fighting has
stopped."
Trump also claims credit for ending
conflict between two nuclear powers,
India and Pakistan. May saw the fiercest
fighting for years between the two
neighbors after a terrorist attack in
the contested region of Kashmir. Trump
wrote on Truth Social, "After a long
night of talks mediated by the United
States, I am pleased to announce that
India and Pakistan have agreed to a full
and immediate ceasefire. Congratulations
to both countries on using common sense
and great intelligence. But India
consistently denies US involvement and
says the agreement was made with
Pakistan and not Washington. Pakistan
has also not confirmed US involvement.
In Eastern Europe last year, tensions
flared between Serbia and Kosovo in what
the EU called the most dangerous
escalation in years. Kosovo declared
independence in 2008, but Serbia doesn't
recognize Kosovo's autonomy. Trump
invited Serbia's president and Kosovo's
prime minister to Washington to
deescalate. Afterwards, Trump announced
in an Oval Office briefing that he'd
stopped another Balkan war.
>> Uh I have a friend in Serbia and they
said we're going to go to war again. And
uh
I won't I won't mention that it's
Kosovo, but it's Kosovo. But they were
going to have a a big-time war and we
stopped it. We stopped it because of
trade. They want to trade with the
United States. I say we don't trade with
people that go to war. However, US
mediation was secondary to the European
Union's long-running dialogue with the
two nations. NATO also played a role in
brokering a standown and overall
Serbia's refusal to still recognize
Kosovo means the conflict is unresolved.
For years, Egypt and Ethiopia have been
in dispute over the Grand Ethiopian
Renaissance Dam on the Nile, which Egypt
says will reduce its share of the Nile
waters and threaten its water supply. As
Ethiopia continued filling the dam this
year, Egyptian officials hinted at
possible military action. White House
communications listed Egypt and Ethiopia
among several conflicts Trump has ended
or resolved. And Trump claims this is
one of the wars he stopped. But there
was no war, just tension. Washington did
try to convene discussions, but the
African Union remained the primary
mediator. There also has been no formal
agreement, and the dispute is ongoing.
So, did Donald Trump really end these
wars? The truth is more complicated than
the soundbite.