Trump manufactures fake ‘wars’ in latest Epstein deflection

While in the midst of a messaging war with the public over releasing the Epstein Files, President Donald Trump on Monday attempted to shift public discourse by falsely claiming to have prevented six wars since taking office in January.

“If I weren’t around, you’d have right now six major wars going on,” Trump said. “We’ve done a lot. It’s an honor to do it. It’s not hard for me to do it. And I use — not in all cases — but I use a combination of knowing them a little bit, or in some cases, knowing them a lot.”

Of the conflicts Trump pointed to, three are still active wars, two were ceasefires that the countries involved said the US had nothing to do with, and one was made up by the president entirely. The president boasted of his self-proclaimed peacekeeping abilities amidst a scattershot of social media posts that appear to be attempts to divert attention away from the Trump administration’s refusal to release the Epstein files.

In addition to taking credit for ending a war that he made up, Trump attacked news outlets’ First Amendment rights and threatened to politically prosecute a number of prominent Black Americans, including Barack Obama, Kamala Harris, Beyoncé, and Oprah.

Here are the conflicts Trump claims to have resolved, and what the current situation actually is.

Gaza War: Active

What Trump said: “Yeah, ceasefire is possible, but you have to —you have to get it, you have to end it. You’re talking about it with Israel? You’re talking about there? Because we have many ceasefires going on. The whole world.”

What’s happening: Israel is currently committing a genocide against Palestinians, and Trump said last week he has given up on pushing for a ceasefire. Israel began a daily “tactical pause” on Monday to allow humanitarian aid to enter Gaza after a months-long Israeli blockade on humanitarian aid led to the mass starvation of Gazan children.

Russo-Ukrainian War: Active

What Trump said: “I’m going to make a new deadline of about 10, 10 or 12 days from today. There’s no reason in waiting. There’s no reason in waiting. It’s 50 days. I want to be generous, but we just don’t see any progress being made.”

What’s Happening: Russia ordered a drone strike on Ukraine on Sunday, prompting Trump to issue another arbitrary deadline for Russia to end the war.

India–Pakistan Conflict: Resolved internally

What Trump said: “I think a very big one was India and Pakistan, because that’s — you’re talking about two nuclear nations. That was a very big one. But now we get help from the UK, the Prime Minister’s health.”

What’s Happening: After a spark of violence between India and Pakistan erupted in May 2025, the two nations came to a bilateral ceasefire agreement. After Trump took credit, Pakistan officials thanked the US and 35 other countries for their support of the truce, while India Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated that the US was not involved in mediating the ceasefire.

Cambodia–Thailand Border Conflict: Resolved internally

What Trump said: “Just spoke to the Acting Prime Minister of Thailand and Prime Minister of Cambodia. I am pleased to announce that, after the involvement of President Donald J. Trump, both Countries have reached a CEASEFIRE and PEACE. Congratulations to all!”

What’s Happening: An ongoing territorial dispute between Cambodia and Thailand became violent in May. Thailand’s acting Prime Minister rejected outside mediation on July 25, and told Trump to stay out of it when the US president called him the next day. After the call, Trump declared victory and announced a nonexistent ceasefire. The next day, a ceasefire was mediated by the Malaysian Prime Minister, and was not a result of Trump’s trade and tariff-related threats.

Serbia – Kosovo War: Ended in 1999

What Trump said: “Serbia, Kosovo is another one. We have many hotspots that were at war.”

What’s Happening: Serbia and Kosovo haven’t been at war in decades. Trump has claimed since June that someone told him Serbia was going to start a war with Kosovo, so he stopped it from happening. There’s no evidence any of this is true.

DR Congo – Rwanda War: Active

What Trump said: “Look at — if you take a look at Rwanda and the Congo, Republic of the Congo. They’ve been fighting for 31 years, 8 million people dead. It was going on. Nobody could go to that part of Africa. They were being killed off to even walk. They’re being killed with machetes.”

What’s Happening: The Trump administration brokered a deal between the two countries in June, where the Democratic Republic of the Congo would give the US rare earth minerals in exchange for protection, and the DRC would end its support of a far-right rebel government in Rwanda.

The DRC’s main opponent in the ongoing war, the Rwandan-backed rebel paramilitary known as M23, was not part of the negotiations.

This post first appeared in Below The Beltway, a COURIER Substack by Camaron Stevenson.