In a State of the Union speech that has triggered international diplomatic discussions, President Donald Trump made an astonishing allegation regarding his role in South Asian geopolitics. During a joint session of Congress on February 24, 2026, Trump asserted that his personal intervention in the 2025 India-Pakistan military standoff was not only to avoid a nuclear war but specifically saved the life of Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
The sentiments expressed by the President were in reference to the short and dramatic fighting that broke out in May 2025 due to India's "Operation Sindoor." During the height of the tensions when "11 expensive jets" were said to have been shot down Trump issued a direct ultimatum to both New Delhi and Islamabad that shook the world, Trump said.
The Ultimatum Against the “200% Tariff.”
Trump described a high-stakes phone call he reportedly made with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. The only tool that could bring the nuclear-armed neighbors to the table, according to the President, was the threat of economic devastation. “They both wanted to fight. It was a raging war,” Trump told the chamber.
“I called them up and said, ‘Listen, I’m putting 200% tariffs on everything you sell to the United States if you don’t stop this right now.’ All of a sudden, the fighting stopped. They realized they liked money more than they liked fighting.”
Saving "35 Million Lives."
The speech featured a direct quote from the Pakistani Prime Minister, a more dramatic part of the speech. Trump reported that at the most recent meeting of his new Board of Peace in Washington, Sharif came to express his gratitude in stark terms.
“Shehbaz Sharif stood up and told my Chief of Staff that if it weren't for President Trump, he would have died, and 35 million people would have died in a nuclear holocaust,” Trump said. “He called me the savior of South Asia. And he’s right. We stopped a war that nobody else could stop.”
Context of the 2025 Conflict
The violence Trump referenced started on May 7, 2025, following the “Pahalgam terror attack.” India’s response was Operation Sindoor against terror infrastructure across the Line of Control. The subsequent four-day escalations saw aerial dogfights and drone attacks, sending the region on the verge of a full-scale war before a ceasefire was announced on May 10, 2025. Diplomatic Reactions and Skepticism. Though Pakistan publicly has allied itself with Trump’s “Board of Peace,” with Sharif even nominating Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize, India has mostly stayed quiet on the claims of American mediation.
New Delhi has repeatedly argued that all of the problems with Pakistan are bilateral and that there has been no third party involvement. Critics in Washington have been skeptical of the “35 million” number and the particular assertion that Sharif’s life was at risk, implying the rhetoric is a part of a wider effort to reinforce Trump’s image as a world peacemaker. Yet the President is still defiant, and finishes the segment by saying: "There is nothing more expensive than war, and nothing cheaper than a great deal."
