Trump Claims No U.S. President Has “Solved a War” During Meeting with Zelensky

President Donald Trump made a historically inaccurate claim Friday, stating that the United States has “never had a president that solved one war,” while speaking to reporters ahead of his meeting 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 told reporters from the Cabinet Room. “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 statement comes as Zelensky visited Washington to discuss strengthening U.S. support for Ukraine in its ongoing conflict with Russia. Hours before the Ukrainian president’s arrival, Trump announced he would also meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Budapest, Hungary, adding another layer of complexity to the diplomatic situation.

Trump’s claim about his predecessors contradicts well-documented historical facts. Multiple U.S. presidents have played significant roles in ending major conflicts throughout American history. President Theodore Roosevelt won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1906 specifically for his role in negotiating an end to the Russo-Japanese War. President Dwight D. Eisenhower helped conclude the Korean War, with an armistice signed just seven months after his inauguration in 1953.

Perhaps most notably, President Abraham Lincoln served as commander-in-chief when Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union General Ulysses S. Grant, marking the effective end of the American Civil War—though Lincoln’s successor, Andrew Johnson, would formally declare the conflict over a year later.

Prior to his comments about former presidents, Trump boasted that he had personally ended “eight wars” during his time in office and expressed frustration at not receiving recognition from the Nobel committee.

“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.”

This comment references recent efforts by Trump’s supporters to secure him the Nobel Peace Prize following his announcement of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. When Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado was instead named as this year’s recipient, White House Communications Director Steven Cheung criticized the decision as placing “politics over peace.”

“President Trump will continue making peace deals, ending wars, and saving lives,” Cheung wrote 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 later dedicated her award to Trump, according to the president’s account of their interaction.

The meeting with Zelensky comes at a critical juncture in the Ukraine-Russia conflict, now entering its third year with no clear resolution in sight. The Ukrainian president has been seeking additional military and economic support from Western allies, including the United States, as his country continues to defend itself against Russian aggression.

Trump’s simultaneous engagement with both Zelensky and Putin signals his administration’s desire to position itself as a potential mediator in the conflict, though critics have questioned whether the approach will yield meaningful progress toward peace in the region.

The White House has not yet responded to requests for comment regarding Trump’s historical claims about war resolution by previous administrations.