US President Donald Trump has claimed that ten aircraft were shot down during the May 2025 military conflict between Pakistan and India,  while talking to Fox Business for an interview that aired on Wednesday.

 

During the interview, the host was discussing Trump’s “reciprocity policy” in trade and the use of tariffs, when the president said, “And that’s being very nice and gentle. Look, I settled eight wars. Out of the eight wars, at least six were settled because of tariffs.”

 

He further explained his approach, saying, “In other words, I said, ‘if you don’t settle this war, I’m gonna charge you tariffs because I don’t wanna see people getting killed.’ And they said, ‘No, what does this have to do with it?’ I said, ‘You’re gonna be charged.’”

 

On the Pakistan-India conflict, Trump said, “Like India and Pakistan would’ve been a nuclear war in my opinion. They were really going at it. Ten planes were shot down. They were going at it.”

 

Over the past ten months, Trump has repeatedly mentioned aircraft being shot down during the clash, first stating five jets, then raising the figure to seven in October and eight in November.

 

During the interview, Trump also cited Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif as saying that he helped “save at least 10 million lives when he got us to stop fighting.” He added, “Because, see, they were going to nuclear, in my opinion. Without tariffs, that (ceasefire) wouldn’t have happened.”

 

He criticized other US presidents on trade, saying, “every single” president in the last 50 years was “bad on trade. But I’m not bad on trade. I’m real good on trade.”

 

US-Pakistan relations were highlighted during Trump’s Oval Office meeting with PM Shehbaz in September 2025, where the Pakistani leader thanked him for mediating the ceasefire in the four-day military conflict.

 

The conflict had escalated in April 2025 after a deadly terror attack on tourists in Illegally Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IIOJK), which India attributed to Pakistan. Pakistan rejected the claims. Both sides exchanged retaliatory actions before a ceasefire was declared in May 2025.