MIAMI (THE THURSDAY TIMES) — U.S. President Donald Trump has claimed that eight fighter jets were shot down during the May conflict between Pakistan and India, saying his threat to suspend trade with both countries brought an end to the fighting.
Speaking at the America Business Forum in Miami, President Trump said he was in the middle of a trade deal with both nations when reports emerged that they were heading towards war. “I was in the midst of a trade deal with both of them,” he told the audience. “And then I read on the front page of a certain newspaper, I won’t mention which one because it’s usually fake news, that they were going to war. Eight planes, seven planes were shot down, and the eighth was really badly wounded. But eight planes were shot down essentially.”
I stopped the war between Pakistan and India when seven (Indian) fighter jets had already been destroyed and the eighth was badly damaged. I told both countries that if the fighting continued, trade relations would be suspended, and soon after, the war came to an end — said U.S.… pic.twitter.com/ZSZaZALUqf
— The Thursday Times (@thursday_times) November 5, 2025
Trump said he immediately decided to intervene, warning both countries that the United States would suspend all trade negotiations if hostilities continued. “I said, this is war, and they were going at it. And the two nuclear nations, I said I’m not going to make any trade deals with you guys unless you agree to peace. No way. You are nuclear powers. I’m not trading with you. We’re not making any deals with you if you’re at war with each other.”
He added that within a day, both sides had informed him that they had agreed to a ceasefire. “A day later, I get a call. We made peace. They stopped and said thank you. Let’s trade. Isn’t that great?” Trump said to applause from the audience.
The U.S. president further claimed that his economic measures, particularly tariffs, were instrumental in halting the escalation between the two nuclear-armed neighbours. “Tariffs did that. Without tariffs, that would have never happened,” he said, crediting trade pressure for what he described as a swift resolution to the crisis.
Trump has continued to highlight the episode as one of his key foreign policy achievements, asserting his role in brokering peace between Pakistan and India around sixty times since May. He has often described himself as the man who “stopped a nuclear war” in South Asia.
