U.S. President Donald Trump has said that up to 10 fighter jets were shot down during last year’s India-Pakistan conflict, revising upward his earlier estimate. Speaking on Fox Business about tariffs, Trump claimed he had helped resolve multiple global conflicts through trade pressure.
It would have been a nuclear war. In my opinion, they were really going at it.
Ten planes were shot down. They were going at it.
They were going to go nuclear, in my opinion, without tariffs.
Trump on India-Pakistan pic.twitter.com/llq7tgzsN4
— Tejasswi Prakash (@Tiju0Prakash) February 10, 2026
“I settled eight wars. Of the eight wars, at least six were settled because of tariffs,” he said. He explained that he warned countries involved in conflicts that failure to de-escalate would lead to economic penalties. “I said if you don’t settle this war I’m going to charge you tariffs, because I don’t want to see people getting killed,” he added.
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Referring to tensions between India and Pakistan, Trump said the situation was on the verge of becoming a nuclear confrontation. “They were really going at it. Ten planes were shot down,” he said, suggesting tariffs played a role in halting further escalation.
Trump also said Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif credited him with preventing massive casualties, claiming his intervention saved millions of lives by stopping a potential nuclear exchange. While Pakistan has praised Trump’s role and even nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize, India has not publicly acknowledged U.S. involvement in ending the conflict.
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The confrontation between the two nuclear-armed neighbors erupted in May last year following a deadly attack on tourists in Pahalgam, in Indian-administered Kashmir, which killed 26 people. India blamed Pakistan for supporting the attack, an allegation Islamabad denied while offering to participate in an independent investigation.
During the hostilities, Pakistan reported shooting down multiple Indian aircraft, including three Rafale fighter jets, along with dozens of drones. After nearly 87 hours of fighting, a ceasefire was reached on May 10, with the United States playing a mediating role.
