The key facts
- At a rally in Florida, Trump said tariffs helped end eight wars, five of them through trade and tariffs
- He believes tariffs would not have helped in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, as the US 'doesn't buy enough' from those countries
- Earlier in Iowa, Trump said he has the right to run for a third term
Statement at a rally in Florida
US President Donald Trump said that the tariffs he introduced helped end several wars. He made this statement at a rally of supporters in Florida, Daryo.uz reports. According to him, 'tariffs helped us end eight wars,' and five of the eight, he claimed, were resolved thanks to trade and tariffs. Trump described the approach he used as follows: 'If you keep fighting, we will impose 200% tariffs on both of you' — and, according to him, the wars would then stop.
Why this method was not applied to Russia and Ukraine
The American leader admitted that such an approach would not have worked in the case of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and that he had not planned to apply it. 'Probably I should have done it immediately with Ukraine and Russia. Never thought about it. But we don't buy enough to do it with them', Daryo.uz quotes him as saying. Thus, by Trump's own logic, trade pressure works only when the volume of US trade with the conflicting parties is significant.
Context: statements about a third term
The Daryo.uz article also recalls that earlier, during a speech in Iowa, Trump stated that he has the right to run for a third presidential term, because, in his words, the 2020 presidential election 'was rigged.' It should be noted that Trump's claims about the number of wars resolved through tariffs and about the 'rigging' of the 2020 election are his own statements as cited in the publications; there is no independent confirmation in the sources presented.
