Washington: US President Donald Trump has made one other controversial assertion, this time claiming no president earlier than him ever ended a single struggle. He dropped the bombshell throughout a White Home assembly with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on October 17.
He stated that individuals inform him, “‘Sir, if you happen to resolve another, you’re going to be often called a peacekeeper.’ So to the very best of my information, we’ve by no means had a president that solved one struggle, not one struggle. (George W) Bush began a struggle (in Iraq). Plenty of them begin wars, however they don’t resolve the wars. They don’t settle them, and particularly when they aren’t, once they don’t have anything to do with us.”
Historians heard the phrases and winced. Trump’s sentences ignored a whole report of American presidents who negotiated finish of wars. Some even gained Nobel Peace Prizes for doing it.
Those that know the historical past stated mocked the assertion, including he massively exaggerates his ‘achievements’ whereas ignoring the historic report of different presidents.
The White Home stayed agency behind him. Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly informed PolitiFact that Trump’s “direct involvement in main conflicts, leveraging instruments from America’s navy may to our superior shopper market, has introduced peace to decades-long wars around the globe in a style not like any of his predecessors”.
Trump’s phrases additionally got here with a disclaimer. He stated he meant wars “that don’t have anything to do with us”. He was not counting the World Battle II or any battle fought by US forces. Not one of the eight conflicts he claims to have ended immediately concerned American troops.
The Presidents Who Did Finish Wars
In 1905, Japan shocked the world by defeating Russia within the Russo-Japanese Battle. Then US President Theodore Roosevelt helped dealer peace. The talks befell on the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. Roosevelt acquired the 1906 Nobel Peace Prize for his success.
In 1978, then US President Jimmy Carter introduced Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Start collectively at Camp David. Israel and Egypt had fought for 30 years. Carter guided them via days of secret talks.
The Camp David Accords had been signed on September 17, 1978. Sadat and Start later gained the Nobel Peace Prize.
Wars Settled Beneath Different Presidents
Former President Invoice Clinton watched over peace talks that ended one in all Europe’s bloodiest trendy conflicts. On November 21, 1995, leaders of Bosnia, Croatia and Serbia agreed to cease preventing. The deal grew to become often called the Dayton Accords.
The talks had been led by the than US diplomat Richard Holbrooke and Secretary of State Warren Christopher. Clinton was within the Oval Workplace when the ultimate signatures had been positioned.
Clinton’s presidency additionally noticed peace in Northern Eire. The violence between Catholics and Protestants, often called “the Troubles”, had lasted three many years. The Good Friday Settlement of 1998 ended the killings.
Former Senate Majority Chief George Mitchell led the talks. He travelled repeatedly between Washington and Belfast. Clinton authorised the method.
Beneath former President George W. Bush, one other lengthy struggle ended. Sudan’s civil battle between the federal government and the Sudan Individuals’s Liberation Motion reached a settlement in 2005. The deal grew to become the Sudan Complete Peace Settlement.
US Secretary of State Colin Powell supervised the talks. The settlement later paved the best way for South Sudan’s creation in 2011.
Trump’s File Of ‘Ending Wars’
Trump typically repeats that he has ended “six, seven or eight” wars.
He factors to a sequence of ceasefires and short-term truces. These included pauses in conflicts between Israel and Iran, India and Pakistan and Armenia and Azerbaijan. Not one of the offers introduced everlasting calm. Many leaders concerned nonetheless dispute Trump’s position.
America helped with a short lived peace deal between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda. Violence returned quickly after. Lots of of civilians have died because the June signing.
Trump additionally brokered an settlement between Cambodia and Thailand. Both sides accused the opposite of breaking it inside weeks.
One other standoff continues between Egypt and Ethiopia over a dam on the Nile River. The difficulty stays unresolved. Within the Balkans, a deal between Kosovo and Serbia led to no actual shift. No proof of an impending struggle was discovered earlier than the settlement.
The one current breakthrough got here with Israel’s struggle on Gaza. Trump helped push an settlement to finish it. The deal contains a number of phases. The world nonetheless waits to see if the peace will maintain.
Trump’s Quest For The Nobel
Trump retains mentioning the Nobel Peace Prize. He says his report makes him deserving.
“Everybody says that I ought to get the Nobel Peace Prize for every one in all these achievements,” he informed the United Nations on September 23.
The Nobel Committee had different plans. On October 10, it gave the 2025 Peace Prize to Venezuelan opposition chief Maria Corina Machado for her “tireless work selling democratic rights for the folks of Venezuela”.
Trump stated, “Now we have by no means had a president that solved one struggle, not one struggle.”
Historical past says in any other case. The report stands clear, proving his assertion to be baseless and false.