Trump Proactively Claims Credit For Ending Two More Wars — One Of Which He Started

President Donald Trump has a fondness for repeatedly claiming he ended eight wars, and now he’s adding two more to the tally — including one he started.

Trump spoke to a friendly crowd at a Turning Point USA event in Arizona on Friday night after being introduced by Charlie Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk.

“With the help of everyone here today, this has been by far the most successful first year of any administration in the history of our country, acknowledged by everybody,” Trump said to wild applause.

“To begin with, I ended eight wars,” Trump continued. “And it may be a little early to say this, but if we add Iran and Lebanon, that will be 10 wars ended, and many, many millions of lives. Think of how many lives we have saved.”

The State Department put out a graphic last October, touting the president for ending “8 wars in just 8 months.”

And on 60 Minutes in November, Trump made the claim in a sit-down interview with CBS News’s Norah O’Donnell after reaching in his pocket and pulling out the list.

“I brought, I mean, just a little list of– of– look at this, wars. How many did I solve?” Trump asked O’Donnell. He then read off the list.

“Cambodia– this is Cambodia Thailand. Kosovo Serbia. Congo– the Congo and Rwanda. Pakistan and India, that was gonna be a beauty. They shot down seven planes. Israel and Iran, you’ve heard about that one? Egypt and Ethiopia, that’s another beauty. Ethiopia built a big– dam where there’s no water going to the Nile. Armenia and Azerbaijan. And if you take a look, Israel and Hamas, which is a, you know, rough little situation, but it’s gonna be–”

O’Donnell interrupted to try to move things along, but the president persisted.

“You know how I solved ’em?” Trump continued. “I said, in many cases, in 60% I said, ‘If you don’t stop fighting, I’m putting tariffs on both of your countries and you’re not gonna be able to do business with the [United States].”

The president has continued to talk about ending “eight wars” in various speeches throughout the time he’s been back in office. CNN’s fact-checker Daniel Dale wrote in February:

Trump has not ended eight wars. Among other problems with his list, it includes:

– A diplomatic dispute between Egypt and Ethiopia that was not a war
– Some sort of mystery situation between Serbia and Kosovo that also was not a war
– The war in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo that has not ended despite a Trump administration-brokered peace agreement never signed by the rebel group leading the fighting

And, of course, it was Trump who ordered U.S. strikes on Iran that started last June and culminated in a major military action with Israel beginning in February.

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