We're doing a big deal with Pakistan: Trump

WASHINGTON: U.S. President Donald Trump once again took credit for mediating a ceasefire between India and Pakistan, claiming that his administration helped de-escalate tensions through trade negotiations with both nuclear-armed countries.

Speaking during a meeting at the White House with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Trump said, “If you take a look at what we just did with Pakistan and India, we settled that whole thing and I think I settled it through trade.”

“We’re doing a big deal with India. We’re doing a big deal with Pakistan,” he added.

Commenting on the hostilities between India and Pakistan, Trump remarked, “You know, somebody had to be the last one to shoot, but the shooting was getting worse and worse, bigger and bigger, deeper and deeper into the country. We spoke to them and… we got it settled. And then two days later, something happened, and they said it was Trump’s fault.”

The U.S. president also praised Pakistan’s leadership, saying the country has “some excellent people and some really good leaders.”

Meanwhile, US President confronted South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Wednesday with explosive false claims of white genocide and land seizures during a tense White House meeting that was reminiscent of his February ambush of Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

South Africa has one of the highest murder rates in the world, but the overwhelming majority of victims are Black.

Ramaphosa had hoped to use Wednesday’s meeting to reset his country’s relationship with the US, after Donald Trump canceled much-needed aid to South Africa, offered refuge to white minority Afrikaners, expelled the country’s ambassador and criticized its genocide court case against Israel.

The South African president arrived prepared for an aggressive reception, bringing popular white South African golfers as part of his delegation and saying he wanted to discuss trade. The US is South Africa’s second-biggest trading partner, and the country is facing a 30% tariff under Donald Trump’s currently suspended raft of import taxes.