Trump Falsely Claims No US President Has Ever “Solved a War” During Zelensky Meeting

President Donald Trump made a historically inaccurate claim on Friday, stating that the United States has “never had a president that solved one war,” as he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House.

“Every time I solve one, they said, ‘Sir, if you solve one more, you’re going to be known as a peacekeeper,'” Trump remarked in the Cabinet Room moments before discussions with the Ukrainian leader began. “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 assertion stands in stark contrast to well-documented historical facts. Multiple U.S. presidents have played pivotal roles in ending major conflicts throughout American history.

President Theodore Roosevelt won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1906 specifically for his work negotiating peace in the Russo-Japanese War. His diplomatic efforts at the Portsmouth Peace Conference resulted in a treaty that ended hostilities between the two nations, an achievement internationally recognized with the prestigious award.

Shortly after taking office in 1953, President Dwight D. Eisenhower fulfilled a campaign promise by helping secure an armistice in the Korean War, which was signed just seven months into his presidency, ending active combat on the peninsula.

During the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln served as commander-in-chief when Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union General Ulysses S. Grant in April 1865, effectively ending the bloodiest conflict in American history. While Lincoln was assassinated shortly thereafter, his successor Andrew Johnson formally concluded the war in 1866.

Perhaps most consequentially, President Harry S. Truman made the difficult decision to use atomic weapons against Japan in 1945 after collaborating with Allied powers on the Potsdam Declaration demanding Japan’s unconditional surrender. Following the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan surrendered, bringing World War II to a definitive close.

Zelensky’s visit to Washington comes at a critical juncture in Ukraine’s defense against Russia’s ongoing invasion. The meeting aimed to discuss strengthening American support for Kyiv as the conflict approaches its third year with no clear resolution in sight.

Trump’s remarks came just a day after he announced plans to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Budapest, Hungary, raising questions about his approach to the Russia-Ukraine conflict should he return to office.

Before making his inaccurate claim about presidential peace achievements, Trump boasted that he had personally ended “eight wars” and expressed frustration at not receiving a Nobel Peace Prize for these purported accomplishments.

“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,'” Trump said. “I didn’t get a Nobel Prize.”

The former president and his allies have recently campaigned for him to receive the Nobel Prize after announcing the first phase of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas earlier this month. When the award instead went to Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, White House Communications Director Steven Cheung accused the Nobel committee of prioritizing “politics over peace.”

“President Trump will continue making peace deals, ending wars, and saving lives,” Cheung posted on social media platform 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 subsequently dedicated her award to Trump.

The meeting between Trump and Zelensky occurs against the backdrop of Ukraine’s continued struggle to maintain international support and funding for its defense efforts, with the war showing little sign of resolution nearly three years after Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022.