US President Donald Trump over 30 times has claimed that he has stopped many wars across the globe since he assumed office. But actually as President of the United States, Donald Trump must know that many of these wars were either ignited by United States or fuelled by United states directly or indirectly.
Shailesh Kumar, National Defence
New Delhi, 04 August 205
Donald J. Trump shamelessly wants nobel peace prize claiming to have stopped wars. First talk about Rawanda- DRC war, which he says killed over 5 million was stopped by US President. For simplicity, lets first talk about Rwanda Civil War and Genocide between 1990 to 1994.
Between 7th April 1994 to 19th July 1994, during the Rwanda Civil War, It was the Rwandan Patriotic Front — The RPF, consisted of Tutsi refugees in Uganda, invaded Rwanda around 1990. The United States supported Uganda, which in turn supported the RPF. France, by contrast, supported the Hutu-dominated Rwandan government, a Cold War ally.
The war reached a tentative peace with the Arusha Accords in 1993. However, the assassination of President Juvénal Habyarimana on 6 April 1994 ignited the genocide, as Hutu extremists used the power vacuum to target Tutsi and moderate Hutu leaders.
The U.S. was aware of rising tensions and possible genocide, but deliberately remained mostly inactive. After the genocide began in April 1994, the U.S. blocked early UN intervention. Major General Roméo Dallaire, U.N. force commander in Rwanda forewarned genocise by Hutu. Dallaire urgently requested protection for an informant who outlined to him Hutu plans being made to exterminate Tutsis;
to provoke and kill Belgian troops so as to guarantee Belgium’s withdraw from Rwanda;
and the location of interahamwe arm caches. Everything Dallaire’s informant told him came true three months later.
Post-genocide, the U.S. backed the RPF regime under Paul Kagame, viewing it as a stabilizing pro-Western force.
Now lets talk about what happened during first Congo War between 1996–1997 where U.S. Strategic Support to diminish Russia’s influence fuelled the war.
After the Rwandan genocide, many Hutu génocidaires fled to eastern Zaire, which is now DRC.
Rwanda and Uganda, with covert U.S. support, backed Laurent-Désiré Kabila to overthrow Mobutu Sese Seko.
U.S. policymakers wanted to remove Mobutu, a Cold War-era dictator who had outlived his usefulness for USA.
U.S. military and intelligence reportedly coordinated logistics, satellite intelligence, and diplomatic support to the anti-Mobutu alliance.
Now during second Congo War between1998–2003, which is also called as “Africa’s World War” – because it involved no less than 9 African countries.
U.S. Government’s involvement though limited in comparision to first and second war but definitely complicit.
Rwanda and Uganda continued to operate in eastern DRC, citing security concerns. They exploited coltan, gold, and diamonds.
U.S. ally Rwanda was heavily criticized for exploiting resources and fuelling conflict.
The U.S. did little to restrain Rwanda and Uganda, and Western corporations benefited from minerals sourced from war zones.
Now President Donald Trump can not blame democrate Clinton only for the plight as two other president were from his own party who could have acted to avert the war or nip them in the bud. But US did little in preventing then it did for fuelling the war.
So why now take credit when millions of people lost their lives instead of blaming own country’s policy makers.
Before we move on to other wars lets first talk India Pakistan wars. Though, the United States has not directly started any India-Pakistan war, but it has played varying roles in influencing, fuelling, or containing tensions—especially through arms deals, diplomatic support, geopolitical alignments, and intelligence cooperation.
Let’s break it down war by war. During the first India-Pakistan War (Over Kashmir) 1947–48, the U.S. role was Neutral at first. Later, US however, supported UN-mediated ceasefire in 1949. During 1965 Indo Pak War, the U.S. supplied weapons to both India and Pakistan in the 1950s and early 60s, but more advanced aid like tanks and jets went to Pakistan under SEATO and CENTO military alliances.
This effectively fuelled the conflict by enabling Pakistan’s military capabilities. When war broke out, U.S. imposed an arms embargo on both. Now during third Indo Pak war of 1971 War – Bangladesh Liberation War, the United States backed Pakistan, despite widespread evidence of genocide in East Pakistan, now Bangladesh.
Nixon and Kissinger supported Yahya Khan due to Cold War and China diplomacy. U.S. sent the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise into the Bay of Bengal as a show of force against India, but it did not intervene. India was backed by its all weather friend the USSR, leading to a clear anti-U.S. sentiment in India.
War between India and Pakistan actually was stopped when Pakistan’s DGMO fearing India’s retaliatory strikes on its air bases approached Indian DGMO with request to stop the war.
It is not just Operation Sindoor that US President Trump supported Pakistan and invited Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir, the U.S. clearly favored Pakistan and tried to pressure India most of the time. U.S. overt covert support prolonged the Indo Pak conflict and rendered Pakistan a diplomatic cover.
Billions of dollars military aid and F-16s from 1980s (due to Afghan jihad) strengthened Pakistan’s military. U.S. ignored Pakistan’s nuclear program for strategic reasons during the 1980s. Post-9/11, US started dual engagement calling Pakistan a major non-NATO ally, giving it more weapons. Simultaneously, it built stronger strategic ties with India, causing suspicion in Pakistan.
Now lets talk about the Israel Iran war, though the United States did not formally “start” the Israel–Iran war, but it has repeatedly fuelled and escalated the confrontation over many years—through covert operations, diplomatic/military backing of Israel, sanctions and pressure on Iran, and direct intervention most recently.
US carried out covert campaigns against Iran’s nuclear program, including the Stuxnet cyber operation widely reported as a U.S.–Israel joint effort and targeted disruptions /assassinations of key Iranian nuclear scientists, undermined trust and heightened hostility. These actions are part of the broader shadow conflict that set the stage for direct confrontation.
The U.S. withdrawal from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal (JCPOA) in 2018 and the reimposition of “maximum pressure” sanctions significantly escalated Iran–U.S. and, by extension, Iran–Israel tensions, pushing Tehran toward more aggressive postures and regional proxy activism.
The assassination of Qassem Soleimani in January 2020 by a U.S. drone strike sharply escalated regional tensions; Iran viewed it as a direct attack on its strategic leadership and responded with retaliatory strikes, further polarizing the environment in which Israel and Iran operated.
The U.S. has been a consistent military, intelligence, and diplomatic backer of Israel, supplying advanced weapons, real-time intelligence, and political cover—factors that empower Israeli preemptive and offensive actions against perceived Iranian threats.
Israeli operations against Iranian interests (including in Syria and against nuclear infrastructure) have often been enabled by implicit or explicit U.S. support, creating a cascading proxy and direct confrontation dynamic.
In June 2025, the United States “inserted itself” into the Israel–Iran war by carrying out strikes on Iranian nuclear sites at Israel’s behest, marking a clear shift from supportive to active participation in the kinetic phase of the conflict. This intervention further escalated the war and prompted reciprocal Iranian strikes, including against U.S. facilities.
So U.S. may not have started the war but it fuelled and escalated the Israel Iran war and the same efforts are alive as on date. So, President Trump can’t claim that he stopped 12 day war.
Now lets talk about Serbia Kosovo war— the actual war between Serbia and Kosovo ended in 1999—long before Donald J. Trump became president.
The Kosovo War occurred during 1998–1999, with Serbia’s crackdown on Kosovo’s ethnic Albanian population leading to a NATO-led intervention in the form of Operation Allied Force in March–June 1999. The conflict formally ended when Slobodan Milošević agreed to withdraw Serbian forces, followed by a UN peacekeeping deployment the KFOR and eventual declarations of independence by Kosovo in 2008.
These developments occurred under U.S. and EU diplomatic pressure, not under Trump’s administration. However, in September 2020, Trump hosted Serbian President Vučić and Kosovo Prime Minister Hoti at the White House, where they separately signed documents committing to economic normalization, transit improvements, and symbolic diplomatic gestures like embassy relocation and recognition of Israel.
The agreement halted tariffs, facilitated re-established flights, supported infrastructure projects, and opened agreements involving the U.S. Export‑Import Bank and International Development Finance Corporation. Trump’s claims are nothing but exaggerations.
Now coming to President Trump’s claims to have stopped war between Egypt and Ethiopia, so first of all there has been no war between Egypt and Ethiopia. Instead, Trump’s involvement was merely centered around the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) dispute, a long-standing diplomatic conflict over Nile water rights—not armed hostilities.
The GERD, built by Ethiopia on the Blue Nile, has been a source of major tension with downstream nations Egypt and Sudan, which fear water flow disruption. This dispute has raised the possibility of a “water war,” but no actual military conflict ever occurred.
Trump held a meeting in November 2019 with representatives from Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan, declaring the talks had gone “well” and signalling U.S. interest in resolving the dispute.
In July 2025, Trump publicly stated the U.S. was still “working on” resolving the GERD issue and emphasized Egypt’s water dependency on the Nile. Egyptian leadership welcomed his remarks as a sign of serious U.S. engagement.
What US Government did- in mid-2020, the U.S. suspended nearly $130 million in aid to Ethiopia amid stalled negotiations—seen as leveraging pressure to return to talks.
Trump made controversial remarks warning that Egypt might “blow up that dam” if tensions remained unresolved. These comments were widely criticized by Ethiopia as reckless and legally problematic. So, if no war was ongoing, how come Trump stopped one.
In the last but not the least lets talk about the war between Thailand and Cambodia. US has fuelled rather it stopped the war. There is no proof that US President stopped the war. The peace negotiations between Thai and Cambodian PM were mediated by Malaysian PM Irahim Anwar in Kuala Lumpur. Not only US ambassador but also Chinese ambassador were present during peace talks to stop the 5 day conflict. So President Trump can not take credit for stopping the war.
The only fact that surmounts is his claim during his election campaign that he will stop Russia Ukraine on day one is not met with fulfilment even after months. Trump who first criticized Joe Biden for aiding Ukraine with military equipment to fuel the war has himself offered weapons directly and indirectly because of which war is still raging.
Pakistan and Israel may have nominated President Trump for nobel peace price but facts speak otherwise and can not be construed for exaggerations. What is your opinion about president Trump’s claims of stopping war, do write in the comment box. Thanks for watching National Defence.
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