‘I’ve saved tens of millions of lives’, Trump reiterates claim on Nobel Prize

Washington: President Donald Trump has said he deserved the Nobel Peace Prize for what he described as his role in stopping multiple major wars, including allegedly averting a potential conflict between India and Pakistan, arguing that no other leader had achieved comparable results.

New Delhi, however, has repeatedly denied any third-party involvement in facilitating the ceasefire agreement between India and Pakistan and has maintained that it was Islamabad which urged the Indian armed forces to halt the military operation.

Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump said he had resolved conflicts that had persisted for decades and prevented new wars from escalating, often without military intervention.

“Look, whether people like Trump or don’t like Trump, I settled eight wars,” he said.

Trump listed conflicts he said had been resolved during his leadership, emphasising their duration and scale.

“Big ones, some going on for 36 years, 32 years, 31 years, 28 years, 25 years,” he said.

He singled out South Asia as one of the most dangerous flashpoints, claiming US intervention prevented escalation between India and Pakistan.

“Some just getting ready to start, like India and Pakistan, where already eight jets were shot out of the air,” Trump said.

He said the crisis was defused rapidly and without the use of nuclear weapons.

“And I got it done in rapid order without nuclear weapons,” he said.

Trump said the scale of lives saved justified Nobel recognition.

“I’ve saved tens of millions of lives,” he said.

The President cited a public statement by Pakistan’s Prime Minister to support his claim.

“You know, the Prime Minister of Pakistan came here, and he made a very public statement,” Trump said. “He said that President Trump saved minimum 10 million lives having to do with Pakistan and India.”

In September last year, in a rare admission, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said that New Delhi never agreed to any third-party mediation on issues between India and Pakistan, hence directly undercutting Trump’s repeated claims that he brokered a ceasefire in the wake of Operation Sindoor.

Trump said his approach focused on direct engagement and leverage rather than prolonged warfare.

“These were major wars,” he said. “These were wars that nobody thought could be stopped.”

He contrasted his record with that of former President Barack Obama, who received the Nobel Peace Prize early in his presidency.

“Obama got the Nobel Prize,” Trump said. “He had no idea why. He still has no idea.”

Trump said Obama received the award shortly after taking office.

“He got it almost immediately upon attaining office, and he didn’t do anything,” Trump said.

The President said he did not seek recognition but argued that the criteria for the prize favoured his record.

“I can’t think of anybody in history that should get the Nobel Prize more than me,” he said. “And I don’t want to be bragging.”

“In theory, you (leaders) should get the Nobel Prize for every war you stopped,” Trump said.

He further claimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin had acknowledged his role in ending conflicts.

“President Putin called me, and he said about two of the wars that he’s been trying to stop them for 10 years, he wasn’t able to do it,” Trump said. “He couldn’t believe it.”

He said his primary motivation was humanitarian rather than recognition.

“But I don’t care about that,” Trump said. “What I care about is saving lives.”

Trump said preventing escalation between nuclear-armed states was particularly critical.

“And that was going to be raging,” he said, referring again to the India-Pakistan conflict.

The President’s remarks came as he defended his broader foreign policy record amid questions on Ukraine, Iran, and other global conflicts, reiterating that deterrence and diplomacy had replaced prolonged military engagement.

IANS