'8 Planes Were Shot Down': Trump Again Claims He Stopped India-Pakistan 'Potential Nuclear War'

Last Updated:December 23, 2025, 07:11 IST

Donald Trump has again claimed that his intervention stopped a potential India-Pakistan war, asserting it prevented a nuclear conflict and saved millions of lives.

A file photo of US President Donald Trump (AP)

Donald Trump on Monday (local time) once again claimed that he played a decisive role in stopping a war between India and Pakistan, asserting that his intervention prevented what he described as a potential nuclear conflict between the two neighbouring countries.

Speaking during an interaction with reporters, Trump said, “I have solved eight wars. Thailand is starting to shape up with Cambodia, but I think we have it in pretty good shape."

“We stopped a potential nuclear war between Pakistan and India. The Prime Minister of Pakistan said that President Trump saved 10 million lives, maybe more," he said.

Claiming that the situation was rapidly escalating, Trump said that “eight planes were shot down" and that the conflict was on the verge of spiralling into a much larger war before it was stopped.

“Eight planes were shot down. That war was starting to rage. The only war I haven’t solved yet is Russia-Ukraine," Trump asserted.

His remarks referred to the four-day military confrontation between India and Pakistan that followed New Delhi’s ‘Operation Sindoor’, which was launched in response to the Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 people were killed.

The US President has repeatedly claimed that he used trade tariffs as leverage to halt the India-Pakistan conflict, stating on multiple occasions that his intervention “settled" the crisis within 24 hours.

India, however, has denied these claims. New Delhi has consistently maintained that the de-escalation followed established military communication channels between the two countries.

According to India’s position, Pakistan’s Director General of Military Operations contacted the Indian DGMO after suffering heavy damage, following which both sides agreed to stop all firing and military action on land, in the air, and at sea with effect from May 10.

Indian authorities have underlined that the cessation of hostilities was a bilateral military decision and not the result of any third-party mediation.

During the same interaction with reporters, Trump was also asked about the status of peace talks related to the Russia-Ukraine war.

Responding to the question, he said, “The talks are going on between Russia and Ukraine. There is tremendous hatred between President Putin and President Zelenskyy."

He added that the Russia-Ukraine conflict remains the only conflict he has not yet been able to resolve.

Trump’s comments come in the backdrop of recent peace talks held in Miami, Florida, involving delegations from the United States and Russia.

Following the conclusion of the talks, Trump’s foreign envoy Steve Witkoff said that Russia “remains fully committed to achieving peace" in Ukraine.

In a statement, Witkoff said, “Over the last two days in Florida, the Russian Special Envoy Kirill Dmitriev held productive and constructive meetings with the American delegation to advance President Trump’s peace plan on Ukraine."

The American delegation included Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner, and White House staff member Josh Gruenbaum.

The statement further said, “Russia remains fully committed to achieving peace in Ukraine. Russia highly values the efforts and support of the United States to resolve the Ukrainian conflict and re-establish global security."

The negotiations between Russia and the United States were held as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on Washington to increase pressure on Moscow.

Separately, Steve Witkoff and Ukraine’s Secretary of the Security and Defence Council, Rustem Umerov, described the Ukrainian delegation’s meetings with American and European counterparts as “productive and constructive."

In a joint statement, they said that discussions were held on the further development of Donald Trump’s 20-point plan, including aligning positions on a multilateral security guarantee framework and a US security guarantee framework for Ukraine.

News world '8 Planes Were Shot Down': Trump Again Claims He Stopped India-Pakistan 'Potential Nuclear War'

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