US President Donald Trump on Monday expressed his desire to help ease tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan following deadly weekend clashes along their shared border, claiming he is “good at making peace” and hinting at his willingness to mediate between the two neighbours.
The comments came amid reports of intense fighting between Pakistani and Afghan forces that erupted late Saturday and continued into Sunday morning. According to Pakistan’s Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), at least 23 Pakistani soldiers were martyred, while around 200 Afghan militants and Taliban fighters were killed after Islamabad responded to what it described as “unprovoked aggression” by Kabul.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One while en route from Washington to Israel, Trump acknowledged the hostilities between Pakistan and Afghanistan and said he was prepared to intervene diplomatically once he returned to the White House.
“I hear now there’s a war going on between Pakistan and Afghanistan. I said, ‘I’ll have to wait till I get back.’ I am doing another one,” Trump told journalists, referring to his ongoing efforts to secure a hostage-prisoner exchange deal between Israel and Hamas under his Gaza peace plan. “Because I’m good at solving wars, I’m good at making peace — and it’s an honour to do it. I save millions of lives.”
The US president’s remarks came during a discussion about his legacy and his repeated claims of having resolved multiple global conflicts. Trump, who began his second term in January, has frequently argued that his diplomatic interventions merit a Nobel Peace Prize, though critics have dismissed those assertions as exaggerated.
Responding to a reporter who asked how the Gaza truce might shape his legacy, Trump said:
“This will be my eighth war that I’ve solved.” He then pivoted to mention the Pakistan–Afghanistan border crisis, suggesting that he could “solve that one too” once back in Washington.
Trump also commented on the Nobel Committee’s decision to award the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, saying, “In all fairness to the Nobel committee, it was for 2024 … but there are those that say you could make an exception because a lot of things happened during 2025 that are done and completed and great.” He added, “But I did this not for Nobel, I did this for saving lives.”
The president further referenced past regional conflicts, boasting of his ability to resolve disputes through unconventional methods, including economic pressure and tariffs. “Think about India–Pakistan,” Trump said. “We had wars going for 31 years, 32 years, 37 years — and I got every one of those done, for the most part, within a day.”
He elaborated that during the May 2025 India–Pakistan conflict—the worst between the nuclear-armed rivals in decades—he threatened both nations with sweeping tariffs to force a ceasefire. “I said if you guys want to fight a war and you have nuclear weapons, I’m going to put big tariffs on you both — like 100 per cent, 150 per cent, 200 per cent. I had that thing settled in 24 hours. If I didn’t have tariffs, you could have never settled that war,” he claimed.
The conflict Trump referred to was sparked by an attack on Hindu pilgrims in Indian-occupied Kashmir, which New Delhi accused Pakistan of backing—an allegation Islamabad strongly denied, calling India’s account “politically motivated and replete with fabrications.”
The four-day confrontation involved the use of fighter jets, missiles, artillery, and drones, leaving dozens dead on both sides before a ceasefire was agreed upon. Pakistan later stated it had shot down six Indian fighter aircraft, including Rafale jets, though India admitted only “some losses” and denied the scale claimed by Islamabad.
Trump’s remarks come at a time when the Pakistan–Afghanistan border remains volatile following repeated exchanges of fire and heightened mistrust between Islamabad and the Taliban-led government in Kabul.
The White House has not issued an official statement on whether Washington intends to play any mediating role between the two nations.
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