"I've ended seven wars," Trump claims. But is that really true?

Donald Trump sees himself as a candidate for the Nobel Prize. In his speech to the UN General Assembly he claimed to have ended several conflicts. Time for a fact check

On one point Donald Trump is consistent: he doesn't take the truth very seriously. Today he says one thing, tomorrow the opposite. During his first four-year term as president of the United States, the American newspaper "Washington Post" recorded a total of 30.573 false or misleading statements from him - an average of 21 per day.

In his second term, he continues at the same pace. In early August, Trump declared: “You know, we’ve cut drug prices by 1200, 1300, 1400, 1500 percent. I’m not talking about 50 percent. I’m talking about 14, 1500 percent.” This is mathematically impossible: a 100 percent price cut would mean free drugs; a 1200 percent or more cut would even mean the state paying citizens to buy drugs at pharmacies, for example.

Last week, the US president claimed before the UN General Assembly that he had “ended seven endless wars” and again nominated himself for the Nobel Peace Prize. “I was told, they (wars) could not be ended. That they were unsolvable. Some, two of them, had already lasted 31 years – imagine, 31 years! Another 36 years. Another 28 years. I have ended seven wars. And in all cases they had caused thousands of victims,” Trump said.

But is it true that the American president has actually ended seven wars and made the world more peaceful? A fact check.

1. Armenia and Azerbaijan

In early August, Donald Trump hosted Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijan's authoritarian president Ilham Aliyev at the White House. The two countries have been at loggerheads over the Nagorno-Karabakh region for decades. Trump merely witnessed a signed "declaration" - after both sides had already announced a peace agreement in March that has yet to be ratified.

In 2023, Azerbaijan took full control of Nagorno-Karabakh after a one-day offensive; some 120.000 Armenians, mostly Christians, were forced to flee to Armenia. Legally, according to the UN and the Council of Europe, the territory belongs to Azerbaijan, but since the collapse of the Soviet Union it had been controlled by Armenian rebels.
Aliyev also wants a land corridor through southern Armenia to connect it to the Azerbaijani enclave of Nakhchivan - an issue that has yet to be resolved. For Trump, it seemed crucial that the planned corridor be called the “Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity.” He also overlooked the fact that Aliyev is pressuring Armenia to remove the article from its constitution that claims Karabakh.

Since the White House ceremony, Trump has claimed several times that he has ended the “war between Albania and Azerbaijan” — a hilarious misnomer: he is referring to Armenia; he also often says “Azerbaijan.” It was important for him that the two guests from the South Caucasus nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize.

2. Kosovo and Serbia

In June, the US president unexpectedly announced that he had averted war between Serbia and Kosovo. Since then, EU diplomats and senior NATO officers in the Western Balkans have been asking: which war?
According to Trump, "a friend from Serbia" had warned him of a possible escalation. He then threatened Belgrade and Pristina with the severance of trade relations - which, he said, had immediate effect.

In fact, Serbia and Kosovo had already signed an agreement to “normalize economic relations” in the White House in 2020, during Trump’s first term. This agreement left key issues open.

At the time, a Trump adviser proposed that the lake in northern Kosovo, whose basin lies partly in Serbian territory, be named “Lake Trump.” Politicians in both countries reacted positively – but in the meantime, nothing changed. To this day, the lake has two names: Gazivoda (Serbian) and Ujman (Albanian). Serbia still does not recognize Kosovo’s independence and considers the country a breakaway province.

3. Cambodia and Thailand

For decades, the conflict between Thailand and Cambodia over their shared border, especially over the 1000-year-old Hindu temple of Preah Vihear, has caused tensions. The International Court of Justice had recognized the temple as Cambodian, but Thailand has not accepted the decision.

In May, there was a gunfight, in which a Cambodian soldier was killed. In July, the violence escalated: 38 people were killed, hundreds of thousands fled. Trump spoke by phone with both prime ministers, threatened to break off trade talks and called for a ceasefire.
A little later, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet and his Thai counterpart, Phumtham Wechayachai, met in Malaysia and agreed to a ceasefire - but the border standoff remained unresolved.

Trump took credit for the success, even though Malaysia mediated. Hun Sen later nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize.

4. Israel and Iran

After a twelve-day war in June, Trump claimed to have brokered a ceasefire between Israel and Iran — only to complain later that hostilities were continuing. “Don’t drop those bombs. Bring your pilots home,” he wrote — directed at Israel — on his Truth Social platform.

After a conversation with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the fighting ended. But the truth is that the US not only supported Israel's airstrikes on Iran, but even joined them and bombed nuclear plants.
A peace deal was not reached; the Iranian nuclear program remains unresolved. However, Netanyahu nominated the US president during a visit to Washington in July for the Nobel Peace Prize.

5. Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo

At the end of June, the foreign ministers of the two countries signed a peace agreement in Washington - in the presence of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. This was supposed to end the 30-year conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Trump welcomed Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe and his Congolese counterpart Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner to the White House, calling it "a wonderful day for Africa and, frankly, for the whole world".
But the most powerful rebel group, M23, refused to participate in the talks. Fighting with the Congolese army continues.

6. India and Pakistan

India has struck targets in Pakistan after an attack in Indian-administered Kashmir killed 26 people, including many tourists. India blamed the Islamist group "Army of the Pure," which operates from Pakistani territory.
Trump was the first to claim that he had prevented the war. Pakistan immediately nominated him for the Nobel Prize. India, on the other hand, downplayed the role of the American president and emphasized that he had made a direct deal with Islamabad. Trump also took this success for himself, saying that he had achieved it by threatening the two nuclear powers with a trade embargo.

7. Egypt and Ethiopia

Although Egypt and Ethiopia last fought in 1876, Trump is confident that this summer he has prevented a major conflict between the two African countries. In fact, it is a dispute over the Nile River - the lifeblood of Africa. Egypt and Sudan criticize the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), which, according to them, could endanger their water supply. With this dam, Ethiopia wants to develop its economy.

Trump claimed that large parts of the project were financed with American money. Ethiopia dismissed this as a lie - and did not nominate Trump for the Nobel Prize.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee will decide who will receive the prize on October 10. According to a new American poll, 76 percent of Americans think Donald Trump does not deserve it.