'Stopped Nuclear Disaster': Trump Repeats India-Pakistan Ceasefire Claim At Musk's DOGE Exit Presser
'We said we can't trade with people that are shooting at each other,' says the US president.
US President Donald Trump, at the presser marking the exit of billionaire-businessman Elon Musk from the Department of Government Efficiency or DOGE, repeated his claim of stopping India-Pakistan ceasefire by using trade as a leverage.
"We stopped India and Pakistan from fighting. I believe that could've turned out to be a nuclear disaster," Trump said in a press conference with Musk.
"We said we can't trade with people that are shooting at each other and potentially using nuclear weapons. They understood and they agreed," he added.
Trump's claim has earlier been denied by New Delhi, which has maintained that the ceasefire decision was taken bilaterally by India and Pakistan.
At the press briefing, Trump thanked Musk, who has announced his exit from the administration, noting that he has delivered a "colossal change" in the old ways of doing business in Washington.
"Elon has worked tirelessly, helping lead the most sweeping and consequential government reform programme in generations," Trump said. "They found things that are pretty unbelievable."
Trump went on to describe Musk as "one of the greatest business leaders and innovators the world has ever produced.”
Reciprocating the gesture, Musk said at the press briefing that he will remain "friend and advisor" to Trump despite exiting from his role in the government.
In response to a softball question on whether it is tougher to colonise Mars or slash government spending, Musk responded by saying, "It’s a tough call."
The development comes after the chief executive officer of Tesla Inc. and SpaceX announced on X on Wednesday that his "scheduled time as a Special Government Employee" had come to an end. "I would like to thank President Donald Trump for the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending."
Musk had also said that while his tenure with the US government ended, the "DOGE mission" would continue to operate. The world's richest man's exit from DOGE comes even as the agency has achieved far less so far than what was initially outlined.
