Donald Trump Wars & Peace

Trump promises to ‘settle’ war in Ukraine if elected
Former President Donald Trump said if reelected
he would end the war in Ukraine
before his inauguration -PBS 11 September 2024

Donald Trump and the Aggressive Pursuit of a Nobel Peace Prize
The president said it would be “a big insult” to the US if he doesn’t win. Some in Norway fear retaliation if he’s disappointed.
(Bloomberg) Trump claims to have ended at least six wars — including an armed conflict between India and Pakistan in May, fighting between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda-backed rebels, and border clashes between Thailand and Cambodia — since returning to the White House in January. This success rate has been disputed by critics who say the hostilities that Trump takes credit for resolving were smaller in scale, his role was limited, or involved conflicts that ended long ago. Yet, his Middle East special envoy, Steve Witkoff — who is involved in efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war and the conflict in Gaza — told a cabinet meeting in Washington in August that the Nobel committee needed to “finally get its act together” and award the prize to his boss.
… The deliberations of the five-person committee — selected by Norway’s parliament — are sealed for 50 years, so unless Trump wins on Oct. 10, historians will have to wait half a century to know whether he even made the 2025 shortlist. – 3 October 2025

Trump wants Thai-Cambodian peace deal photo op at Asean summit to boost Nobel ambitions
The ‘Peacemaker-in-Chief’ is hoping to stake his claim on initiating the peace process between the two Asean members, sources say
(SCMP) US President Donald Trump has asked to preside over the signing of a peace deal between Cambodia and Thailand when he attends the Asean Summit in Kuala Lumpur later this month, according to four government and diplomatic sources.
Southeast Asia is hoping to negotiate concessions to punishing tariffs imposed by Washington when they meet in the Malaysian capital from October 26 to 28, adding significance to Trump’s request for a peace signing ceremony.

6 October
Day one of Gaza peace talks ends on ‘positive’ note in Egypt
Sources familiar with the mediated talks between Israel and Hamas say that progress was made on Monday, with negotiations to continue.
The first day of resumed indirect talks between Israel and Hamas in Egypt ended on a positive note, amid hopes of a potential deal to implement US President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan to end the war on Gaza, multiple sources told Al Jazeera and other media outlets.
Sources told Al Jazeera Arabic that the meeting in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on Monday was “positive” and that a roadmap was drawn up for how the current round of talks would continue.
The Hamas delegation told mediators that Israel’s continued bombing of Gaza poses a challenge to negotiations on the release of captives, Al Jazeera Arabic reported.

24 September
With His Pivot on Ukraine, Trump May Be Washing His Hands of the War
President Trump has shown dwindling interest in mediating a peace accord, joining European “security guarantees” for Ukraine or providing aid and intelligence to the Ukrainians.
(NYT) Eight months into his second term, President Trump has made a declaration about Ukraine that sounded vaguely like the ones his predecessor, President Joseph R. Biden Jr., used to make. With the right mix of courage, ingenuity and weapons from NATO, he asserted on Tuesday, Ukraine could force Russia to retreat from the territory it has seized in three and a half years of brutal war.
But scratch the surface, and a deeper desire seemed buried in Mr. Trump’s reversal of position during the U.N. meetings in New York this week. Mr. Trump appears to want to wash his hands of the Ukraine conflict, after having no success bringing President Vladimir V. Putin to the negotiating table, and a dwindling chance of acting as mediator between the two warring parties.
Trump’s about-face on Ukraine baffles leaders on both sides of conflict
(Globe & Mail) Politicians in Kyiv and Moscow were left scratching their heads Wednesday, trying to understand Donald Trump’s latest about-face on the war, after the U.S. President posted on social media that he now believed Ukraine could emerge victorious.

11-12 September
Trump stands by as Putin and Netanyahu cross new lines
(Axios) President Trump loves to boast about his singular ability to control global events and leaders, but there are two notable exceptions: his ally Benjamin Netanyahu and his nominal adversary, Vladimir Putin.
Why it matters: The wars in Ukraine and Gaza have been the two dominant global crises of Trump’s second term, but despite his promises to end both wars, he’s seemed doubtful lately about his ability to influence the men prolonging them.
Behind the scenes: Trump has conceded to confidants that he misjudged Putin’s desire for peace, but he rejects the notion he’s being manipulated by Netanyahu.
… Flashback: One month ago, Trump declared that Putin would face severe consequences if he didn’t agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine or take major steps toward peace when they met in Alaska.
His advisers were adamant in private that, this time, he was deadly serious.
Instead, Trump declared the summit a success without any cogent explanation as to what was achieved.
State of play: The diplomatic track is stuck, Russia’s attacks on Ukrainian civilians have increased, and no consequences have been forthcoming.
The administration has shifted the onus for pressuring Putin onto Europe, demanding additional EU sanctions on Moscow and on China for buying Russian oil.
When it comes to Netanyahu, Trump has an overwhelming amount of leverage.
But on issues related to Gaza, he’s been reluctant to use it — largely deferring to Netanyahu while alternating between pushing peace proposals and endorsing expanded military action.
Trump demanded Netanyahu commit not to strike Qatar again
President Trump demanded a commitment from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to strike Qatar again after the attack against Hamas leaders in Doha, two sources with knowledge of the issue tell Axios.
Why it matters: Netanyahu didn’t consult Trump or any of his top advisers until missiles were in the air. The strike infuriated the White House and alarmed leaders in the region and around the world.
The attack was damaging not just for Israel’s global standing, but potentially for America’s.
Qatar’s prime minister told the White House his country would now reevaluate its security partnership with Washington after this act of “betrayal,” and said in a CNN interview that leaders across the Gulf were discussing how to respond.
But Netanyahu is publicly unapologetic, even suggesting he might order another attack, regardless of Trump’s demand.

On Ukraine and Gaza, Trump Casts Himself as a Bystander, if He Can’t Be a Peacemaker
President Trump often insists he can bring peace to global conflicts. But when allies and adversaries alike appear to be ignoring him or testing American will, he adopts a what-can-you-do shrug.
(NYT) “What’s with Russia violating Poland’s airspace with drones?” President Trump asked on his social media account on Wednesday, hours after the Russian intrusions led to the first shoot-downs of enemy targets over NATO territory since the alliance was created 76 years ago.
He did not protest the flight of the drones, which penetrated deep over the Polish border, a far more expansive and seemingly deliberate provocation than any previous ones during the 43-month-long war in Ukraine. Mr. Trump added cryptically: “Here we go!”
The post came just hours after Israel took Mr. Trump by surprise, dropping bombs in Qatar — home of the regional headquarters of United States Central Command — without so much as a courtesy notification to Washington.
It was the latest example of the bystander phase of the Trump presidency. Much of the time, Mr. Trump insists he alone can bring about peace — to Ukraine, to the Middle East — by force of personality and his stature on the world stage. But during weeks like this one, when allies and adversaries alike appear to be ignoring him or testing American will to shape events, or both, he adopts a what-can-you-do shrug, online or in the Oval Office, as if he is an observer with minor stakes in the outcome.

5 September
Trump says US in ‘very deep’ negotiations with Hamas, urges release of hostages
Trump urges Hamas to release all hostages in Gaza
Trump had promised quick end to war
(Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday that Washington was in “very deep” negotiations with Palestinian militant group Hamas and urged them to release all hostages held in Gaza.
“We are in very deep negotiation with Hamas,” Trump told reporters, saying the situation will be “tough” and “nasty” if Hamas continues to hold Israeli hostages.

4 September
Gwynne Dyer: Greenland, Ukraine and all that
There’s nothing particularly original about getting some dissident or sold-out minority to call on a great power to intervene in order to provide political cover for what is really an invasion. The old Soviet Union did it to Czechoslovakia in 1968 and to Afghanistan in 1979.
At peak arrogance, when the US was the sole superpower, it didn’t bother with such niceties. It just sent in the troops: Dominican Republic 1965, Grenada 1983, Libya 1986, Panama 1989, Afghanistan 2001, Iraq 2003. Now it needs a bit more cover, especially when invading the territory of a long-standing ally, so let’s find or buy some amenable Greenlanders.
To be fair, the attempt to recruit a few ‘pro-American’ Greenlanders to front the operation suggests that the Trump regime prefers a non-violent conquest if at all possible. On the other hand, it also indicates that at least some of the planners in Washington have been instructed to start preparing the ground for an American takeover. (Canadians take note.)
… Russia is already a fascist state and America may end up as its closest ally if Trump survives. So who is left to defend the rule of law, and above all to protect the fundamental international rule that nobody may change borders by force?
That was the law, written in 1945 by the survivors of the greatest war in history, that has saved us from far worse wars for the past eighty years. Indeed, there have been no wars even one-tenth as bad as 1939-45 in all this time. Fear of nuclear war forced us to be reasonable, but ‘no territorial changes by force’ was how we turned that into a policy.
Now Russia has moved outside that law, and the United States is heading the same way. So who’s left?
Well, actually, almost everybody else. China’s obsession with Taiwan is regrettable, but it is rooted in a civil war between rival Chinese governments. On every other matter, it is a devout defender of the territorial status quo.

30 August
The Nobel Prize and a Testy Phone Call: How the Trump-Modi Relationship Unraveled
President Trump’s repeated claims about having “solved” the India-Pakistan war infuriated Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India.
(NYT) Mr. Trump had been saying — repeatedly, publicly, exuberantly — that he had “solved” the military conflict between India and Pakistan, a dispute that dates back more than 75 years and is far deeper and more complicated than Mr. Trump was making it out to be.
During a phone call on June 17, Mr. Trump brought it up again, saying how proud he was of ending the military escalation. He mentioned that Pakistan was going to nominate him for the Nobel Peace Prize, an honor for which he had been openly campaigning. The not-so-subtle implication, according to people familiar with the call, was that Mr. Modi should do the same.
The Indian leader bristled. He told Mr. Trump that U.S. involvement had nothing to do with the recent cease-fire. It had been settled directly between India and Pakistan.

27 August
Trump’s Nobel Delusions
Nina Khrushcheva
US President Donald Trump appears to find it unbearable that Barack Obama has a Nobel Peace Prize and he does not. But whereas Obama’s was premature, coming just months after he took office, Trump’s would be parodic, turning the Peace Prize into a punchline.
(Project Syndicate) We have already seen one world leader after another kissing up to Trump and capitulating to his bullying. And, in fact, he has already received nominations for his coveted Nobel. One, Pakistan, is not exactly a beacon of peace, and another, Cambodia, is led by the sort of authoritarian Trump admires.

5 Wars That Experts Fear Could Start in the Next 5 Years
(Politico) Ask those whose job it is to worry about conflict where war might break out in the next five years, and the Baltics — the trio of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania that broke away from the Soviet Union after the fall of the Berlin Wall, and a region which Putin would love to reclaim — are on nearly every expert’s list.
But it’s not the only one. This year has already seen two of the world’s most-watched potential conflicts erupt into reality — with missiles flying over the India-Pakistan border in May and then in June, Israel going to war with Iran over its nuclear weapons program. While the India-Pakistan skirmish quickly came to an end, the strategic outcomes of Israel’s immediate tactical success in Iran remain very much an open question.
Analysis of recent U.S. intelligence testimony and reports, as well as interviews with a half-dozen geopolitical experts make clear that in addition to the Middle East, there are five high-profile, high-risk conflicts that conceivably could unfold in the next five years, all of which could have profound and serious consequences for the U.S. — militarily, economically or geopolitically. These are high-tension areas where a military incursion, akin to Russia’s 2021 invasion of Ukraine, spiraling escalation, or even just a bad 24-hour period of misunderstandings, mistakes, military accidents or miscalculations could lead to major showdown, loss of life and global ruptures.
Aggrieved Nuclear Neighbors – India-Pakistan
One particularly worrisome facet is that Pakistani military doctrine is believed to have a low threshold of use of nuclear force against India — and domestic political pressures mixed with the relative immaturity of both countries’ arsenals and doctrines could mean that any nuclear exchange spirals into a rush to use dozens or scores of weapons as quickly as possible, resulting in hundreds of nuclear attacks during just a few days of war
The Most-Feared Invasion – China-Taiwan
If China took Taiwan — either without international opposition or despite it — the aggression would instantly rewrite the geopolitics and alliances of the Pacific, as countries across Southeast Asia and the Pacific rim that have long allied themselves first with the United States reconsider which superpower might better serve their long-term economic and security interests. A Taiwan takeover could even spur nuclear proliferation in nervous countries like South Korea — and Japan — who might doubt whether when push-comes-to-shove the U.S. would be there when needed in the future. Xi is believed to have set a 2027 deadline for his armed forces to be ready for an invasion of Taiwan.
Testing NATO – Russia and the Baltics
The three Baltic countries are tiny in size and population, which makes them a tempting target for Russia seeking to reassert itself. Putin’s goal in any Baltic incursion would be two-fold — both to regain territory he believes historically should be part of Russia, but also to test NATO and Europe by targeting some of its smallest and most isolated members.
The Tensest Border – India-China
Geopolitical experts worry about the reputational risk both countries would quickly feel as any fighting erupted — China might see fighting India as necessary to chill other regional adversaries — or as a way to embarrass the U.S. with a key Indo-Pacific ally.
Never-Ending War – The Korean Peninsula
Along its edges, about 2.5 miles apart, the outer perimeter of the DMZ is one of the most heavily fortified and defended places on earth, with artillery and land mines at the ready, and all of Seoul in easy missile range of the North.

27 August
Denmark summons top U.S. diplomat after reports of American influence operations in Greenland
Public broadcaster report indicated 3 Americans with ties to Trump administration raised suspicion
(CBC) Public broadcaster DR cited unnamed sources as saying the government believed at least three U.S. nationals with ties to President Donald Trump’s administration had been involved in influence operations aimed at promoting Greenland’s secession from Denmark to the United States.
Denmark summons US diplomat over alleged Greenland influence campaign
Danish media reports three men with ties to Donald Trump are accused of attempting to infiltrate Greenlandic society
Denmark has summoned the US charge d’affaires for an urgent meeting over an alleged influence campaign in Greenland aimed at shaping public opinion and the future of the Arctic territory.
It comes after reports from Danish media, confirmed by the Danish foreign office, that at least three US men with ties to Donald Trump and the White House had been accused of trying to infiltrate Greenlandic society.
Their activity – which, according to the broadcaster DR, includes compiling lists of Trump-supporting Greenlandic citizens – is being closely watched by the Danish government, which is understood to be aware of “foreign agents and actors” trying to shape public opinion in Greenland.

25-27 August
Trump Aims To End Israel-Gaza Conflict Before 2025 Ends
The US State Department separately said Secretary of State Marco Rubio will meet Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar in Washington on Wednesday.
Trump had promised a swift end to the war in Gaza during the 2024 US election campaign and after taking office in January, but almost seven months into his term, that stated goal remains elusive.
Trump predicts ‘conclusive ending’ to Gaza war within three weeks
The US president has made such claims before, but Israel has pressed on with its genocidal war with full US backing.

26 August
Trump claims to have ended the war in Congo. People there say that’s not true
(AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump claims that the war in eastern Congo is among the ones he has stopped, after brokering a peace deal between Congo and Rwanda in June. But residents, conflict researchers and others say that’s not true.
Trump on Monday repeated claims that he ended the decades-long conflict, describing Congo as the “darkest, deepest” part of Africa. “For 35 years, it was a vicious war. Nine million people were killed with machetes. I stopped it. … I got it stopped and saved lots of lives,” he asserted.
The Associated Press previously fact-checked Trump’s claim and found the war far from over. Now residents report clashes in several hot spots, often between the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels who seized key cities earlier this year and militia fighting alongside Congolese forces.
A final peace deal between Congo and the rebels, facilitated by Qatar, appears to have stalled. Each side has accused the other of violating peace terms.

25 August
Trump hints he will change Pentagon’s name to Department of War
“I don’t want to be defense only,” the president said. “We want offense too.”
(Politico) The switch is telling. Trump has championed his role in trying to settle conflicts around the world. But the effort to swap the Defense Department’s name indicates a president who is just as eager to talk about military strength overseas.

22 August
Trump ups number of wars he claims to have ended from 7 to 10: ‘If you think about pre-wars’
Claim comes as Ukraine war rages on despite Trump peacemaking attempts
(The Independent) Earlier this week, the president had put the figure at “six wars in six months” in a post on Truth Social. It was an apparent reference to diplomacy around disputes between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, Iran and Israel, India and Pakistan, Cambodia and Thailand, and Ethiopia and Egypt.
21 August
Trump touts his peace deal between ‘Aberbaijan and Albania’ – getting both countries’ names wrong
‘Er Albania, I mean […],’ President Trump said, while referring to the decades-long conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan
Earlier this month, Trump announced a peace deal, ending decades of conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia, two nations who have been in a state of tension since the 1980s.

19-20 August
How many wars has President Trump really ended?
As President Donald Trump tries to broker an end to the Russia-Ukraine war, he has been highlighting his track record in peace negotiations since starting his second term in office.
Speaking at the White House on 18 August, where he was pressed by European leaders to push for a ceasefire, he claimed: “I’ve ended six wars… all of these deals I made without even the mention of the word ‘ceasefire’.”
The following day the number he cited had risen to “seven wars”.
Some lasted just days – although they were the result of long-standing tensions – and it is unclear whether some of the peace deals will last.
Trump also used the word “ceasefire” a number of times when talking about them on his Truth Social platform.
BBC Verify has taken a closer look at these conflicts and how much credit the president can take for ending them.
The Trump administration says a Nobel Peace Prize is “well past time” for the “peacemaker-in-chief”, and has listed the “wars” he has supposedly ended.
Israel and Iran The US carried out strikes on Iranian nuclear sites – a move widely seen as bringing the conflict towards a swift close. On 23 June, Trump posted: “Officially, Iran will start the CEASEFIRE and, upon the 12th Hour, Israel will start the CEASEFIRE and, upon the 24th Hour, an Official END to THE 12 DAY WAR will be saluted by the World.”
After the hostilities ended, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei insisted his country had secured a “decisive victory” and did not mention a ceasefire.
Israel has since suggested it could strike Iran again to counter new threats.
Pakistan and India …in May hostilities broke out following an attack in Indian-administered Kashmir. After four days of strikes, Trump posted that India and Pakistan had agreed to a “FULL AND IMMEDIATE CEASEFIRE”. Pakistan thanked Trump and later recommended him for the Nobel Peace Prize, citing his “decisive diplomatic intervention”.
India, however, played down talk of US involvement: “The talks regarding cessation of military action were held directly between India and Pakistan under the existing channels established between both militaries,” Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said.
Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo In June, the two countries signed a peace agreement in Washington aimed at ending decades of conflict. Trump said it would help increase trade between them and the US.
Egypt and Ethiopia There was no “war” here for the president to end, but there have long been tensions over a dam on the River Nile.
Thailand and Cambodia Malaysia held the peace talks, but President Trump threatened to stop separate negotiations on reducing US tariffs (taxes on imports) unless Thailand and Cambodia stopped fighting.
Serbia and Kosovo On 27 June, Trump claimed to have prevented an outbreak of hostilities between them, saying: “Serbia, Kosovo was going to go at it, going to be a big war. I said you go at it, there’s no trade with the United States. They said, well, maybe we won’t go at it.” The two countries signed economic normalisation agreements in the Oval Office with the president in 2020, but they were not at war at the time.
Trump Says He’s Ended 6 (or 7) Wars. Here’s Some Context.
President Trump has cast himself as a global peacemaker. His interventions have calmed some conflicts, while in others his role is less clear.
Every U.S. president has world conflicts land on his desk, and Mr. Trump has used the power of his office, including the threat of economic penalties, to intervene in several this year, leading to a stop in fighting. In some cases, warring parties have credited him with advancing peace or calming hostilities. In others, his role is disputed or less clear — or fighting has resumed.
Asked for clarification, the White House provided a list of the six wars he says he has resolved. It did not respond to a subsequent question about the seventh.
Armenia and Azerbaijan
Mr. Trump brought the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to the White House this month to sign a joint declaration aimed at bringing their long-running conflict closer to an end. It was not a peace deal, but it was the first commitment toward one since fighting broke out in the late 1980s when a weakening Soviet Union unleashed interethnic strife in the Caucasus. …

8 August
Trump Wants to Win the Nobel Peace Prize. He’s About to Make Two Wars Worse.
(Slate) President Donald Trump has publicly moaned that he deserves a Nobel Peace Prize, and yet he seems to be on the verge of intensifying at least two wars—while, at the same time, weakening America’s position in the world and strengthening that of the most powerful dictatorships.
One of these calamities, Trump has already inflicted. Earlier in the week, he gave a green light to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s then-rumored plan to occupy all of Gaza—and, on Thursday, Israel’s security Cabinet approved the policy.
… As of midafternoon Friday, it seems that Trump is going to proceed with the meeting with Putin anyway—no need for the Russian leader to meet with his Ukrainian foe, contrary to Trump’s earlier demands that the two engage in the summit together. Not only that, but Trump seems prepared to hand Putin a major victory, the likes of which his army has been unable to win on the battlefield, despite 3½ years of intense fighting.
Politico reported on Friday that a deal, worked out between Putin and Witkoff, would require Ukraine to cede Crimea and all of the eastern Donbas region to Russia—and to withdraw from the slivers of territory in that region that Kyiv now controls.

President slaps his name on Armenia-Azerbaijan peace passage: The Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity
The agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan will end decades of conflict while reopening key transportation routes in the region

18 June
Trump and India’s Modi split over U.S. role in Pakistan ceasefire
In a Tuesday phone call, India’s Modi told Trump that the U.S. did not play a role in de-escalating tensions between India and Pakistan.
The call was the first time the two leaders had spoken since the early May military conflict between the two countries.
Trump has repeatedly praised his own role in allegedly stopping the conflict, even saying Wednesday morning that the mediation was his doing.