Trump did not say he threatened India PM Modi with tariffs over ceasefire with Pakistan during May conflict

The iVerify Pakistan team investigated this content and determined that it is false.

To reach this conclusion, iVerify Pakistan investigated the video and searched for news stories to corroborate the claim.

Posts from multiple Indian users on social media platform X on August 26, 2025, shared a video of US President Donald Trump, claiming that he admitted to threatening Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi with high tariffs to agree to a ceasefire with Pakistan during the conflict between the neighbours earlier this year. However, Trump said no such thing and said he talked to both countries, warning them of abandoning trade deals.

The US president brokered a ceasefire between the neighbouring countries earlier in May this year. India has, however, denied the claim. Last month, US-India ties were dealt a blow after Trump hiked tariffs on India to 50 per cent for continuing to buy Russian crude oil, a move that came into effect on Aug 26.

HOW IT STARTED

On Aug 26, an Indian user on X shared a video of Trump with the following caption: “Breaking news: Donald Trump has completely exposed Narendra Modi. ‘I talked to Modi, and I threatened India to do a ceasefire within 24 hours but they did it in five hours.’ This is absolutely shocking if true, what kind of Vishwaguru do we have.”

The post gained over 301,000 views.

A similar claim was posted by another Indian user, who appeared to be a Congress supporter based on his profile picture. His caption stated: “Explosive: Trump completely exposed Modi for the first time. ‘I spoke to Modi & threatened him to cut off trade deals in 24 hours if he didn’t stop war. But he stopped in only 5 hours.’ Modi truly sold the nation for money. This is treason.”

This post received more than 388,000 views.

Another user shared the same claim with the following caption and quote attributed to Trump: “I told Modi to end this war. I said, ‘If you don’t, we are going to put tariffs on you so high that your head will spin. Call me tomorrow.’ He stopped the war within five hours. – Trump. Did Modi stop the war on the orders of Trump?”

This version of the claim gained over 145,000 views.

Several other users also circulated the same video and claim, as seen in multiple posts here, here, here, here, here, here and here, collectively garnering more than 180,000 views.

Indian opposition party Congress also shared the same claim about Trump’s threat in a post on X on Aug 27 and shared a clip of party leader Rahul Gandhi saying the same during a public address.

The post gained over 89,000 views.

METHODOLOGY

A fact-check was initiated to determine the veracity of the claim due to its high virality and keen continued public interest in the matter.

Listening to Trump’s video in question, which showed him speaking at a cabinet meeting at the White House, showed that the US president said he spoke to both India and Pakistan at the time of the war.

“You know it was strange, I saw they were fighting. I saw seven jets were shot down. I said that is not good, that is a lot of jets, $150 million planes were shot down. A lot of them … seven or maybe even more than that, they didn’t even report the real number.”

He went on to say: “I am talking to a very terrific man. Modi of India. I said what’s going on with you and Pakistan. Then I am talking to Pakistan on trade. I said what’s going on with you and India? And, the hatred was tremendous. This has been going on for a hell of a long time, like, sometimes with different names for hundreds of years … but I said, I don’t want to make a trade deal with you … you guys are going to end up in a nuclear war… and that was very important to them.

“I said, call me back tomorrow, but we’re not going to do any deals with you, or we’re going to put tariffs on you that are so high, your head’s going to spin … you are not going to end up in a war. Within about five hours, it was done … Now maybe it starts again. I don’t know. I don’t think so, but I’ll stop it if it does. We can’t let these things happen.”

The same transcription of the above remarks was also provided by Indian news agencies ANI and PTI.

The transcription clearly showed that Trump mentioned he spoke to both India and Pakistan and warned both of no trade deals and high tariffs if they did not cease fighting.

FACT-CHECK STATUS: FALSE

The viral claim that Trump said he threatened PM Modi with high tariffs over a ceasefire with Pakistan is false.

Trump said no such thing and instead said he talked to and warned both of high tariffs and no trade deals if they did not stop fighting.