US President Donald Trump on Monday claimed credit for brokering peace between Cambodia and Thailand by leveraging trade deals.In an interview, Trump said that his administration began a series of discussions with both countries and “settled” the conflict “within less than a day.”“You know, they’ve had many conflicts and wars over the years. When I spoke to them, they said, 500 years. They said, that’s a lot. But now it was raging, and raging hard. People were being killed at the border a lot. And I said to Thailand—we’re doing a trading deal, and I’m not going to do a deal if you’re going to be killing each other. And I spoke to Cambodia—said essentially the same thing. I dealt with the two prime ministers,” Trump said.“But somebody had to implement what I did. And we started a series of discussions—back and forth, back and forth. And within less than a day, we have it settled. And I guess now, based on what you’re saying, they’ve just said we’re going to have peace. That’s great. Millions of people are going to be saved. You know, those wars turn out to be a disaster. Millions of people get killed, and it’s total disruption, and it takes them 40 years to recover. And we were able to stop it before it really started—although, you know, a lot of people have already been killed,” he added.Earlier on Sunday, Trump declared himself the “President of Peace” and claimed personal credit for brokering the ceasefire between the two countries.The ceasefire announcement followed five days of fierce fighting along the disputed jungle border between Thailand and Cambodia, which killed at least 36 people and displaced nearly 300,000. The truce was officially declared in Kuala Lumpur after peace talks mediated by Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, the current chair of the ASEAN bloc.Trump had earlier warned both countries that the US would not proceed with trade negotiations if the conflict dragged on.“We happen to be, by coincidence, currently dealing on trade with both countries, but do not want to make any deal… if they are fighting — and I have told them so!” he posted over the weekend.Trump also likened the situation to the past conflict between India and Pakistan, which he claimed to have resolved successfully.“This very much reminds me of the conflict between Pakistan and India, which was brought to a successful halt,” he wrote.Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet publicly thanked Trump for his “decisive support,” calling the peace deal “a foundation for future de-escalation.” The decades-long territorial dispute between the two countries flared up again last week, with both sides trading blame for triggering the latest violence. The disputed region—home to ancient temples and dense forest—has long been a flashpoint.While the ceasefire has brought temporary relief, military commanders from both sides are scheduled to meet on Tuesday to discuss next steps, followed by a cross-border committee meeting on August 4 in Cambodia.
