Summary
- Trump falsely claimed no U.S. president solved one war.
- Made the statement ahead of Zelenskyy White House meeting.
- Zelenskyy seeking increased military support, including missiles.
In light of Russia's assault in Ukraine, Zelensky visited the White House on Friday to talk about bolstering American assistance to Kyiv. Additionally, Trump declared on Thursday that he would travel to Budapest, Hungary, to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Shortly before he began negotiations with the Ukrainian leader, Trump made the untrue assertion about his predecessors in the White House Cabinet Room.
“Every time I solve one, they said, ‘Sir, if you solve one more, you're going to be known as a peacekeeper,’”
Trump said.
“To the best of my knowledge, we've never had a president that solved one war, not one war. Bush started a war. A lot of them start wars, but they don't solve the wars.”
The administrations of a number of US presidents have been instrumental in bringing an end to hostilities. Among the items in this list, but not exclusively, are:
- President Theodore Roosevelt, who mediated a settlement in the Russo-Japanese War and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1906.
- The goal of President Dwight D. Eisenhower was to bring the Korean War to a close. Seven months after his appointment, in July 1953, an armistice was signed.
- On April 9, 1865, Confederate General Robert E. Lee turned himself in to Union General Ulysses S. Grant, with President Abraham Lincoln serving as commander-in-chief. The conflict's most important surrender was this one. In 1866, the war was officially declared over by President Andrew Johnson, Lincoln's successor. Grant was president from 1869 to 1877 as well.
- During World War II, President Harry S. Truman collaborated with China and Great Britain to produce the Potsdam Declaration, which called for Japan's unconditional surrender. Truman approved the use of the atomic bomb after Japan refused to accept it. After the United States attacked Japan twice, the country submitted, bringing World War II to a close.
Before making this claim about former U.S. presidents, Trump boasted that he had ended “eight wars” and complained he did not win a Nobel Peace Prize for any of them.
“Look at all of the wars that we solve, and every time I solve one, they say, ‘If you solve the next one, you're going to get the Nobel Prize,’”
he said.
“I didn't get a Nobel Prize.”
When Trump announced the first phase of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas earlier this month, he and his supporters ran a campaign to earn him a Nobel Peace Prize. White House Communications Director Steven Cheung charged the Nobel committee with prioritizing "politics over peace" after the esteemed prize was given to Maria Corina Machado, the head of the Venezuelan opposition.
“President Trump will continue making peace deals, ending wars, and saving lives,”
he wrote on X.
“He has the heart of a humanitarian, and there will never be anyone like him who can move mountains with the sheer force of his will.”
Machado went on to dedicate her award to Trump.
What historical peace efforts are attributed to past U.S. presidents?
Roosevelt was recognized for interceding in the Russo-Japanese War, an action that helped to keep the conflict from escalating, as well as for promoting international arbitration as a means of peace. He was both the first American and first serving U.S. president who received this recognition.
Wilson was honored for ending World War I and for his invitation to build the League of Nations, to create an enduring international framework of peace, to avoid future wars.
Carter was honored, not during his presidency, but decades later after being recognized for his lifetime of work promoting human rights, democracy, and resolutions to international conflicts. Carter created The Carter Center to continue this work.