Trump Bizarrely Claims Credit For Ending 1/4 of a War on Fox
During a Fox News interview Thursday night, President Trump claimed credit for ending “eight and a quarter” wars, adding a fractional war to his repeated assertions of peace-brokering accomplishments. Trump attributed the quarter-war credit to Thailand and Cambodia “going at it again,” contradicting his claim of having stopped conflicts entirely. His statements came in response to discussion of María Corina Machado, the Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize recipient who recently offered to give her award to Trump for “liberating” Venezuela.
Trump has routinely inflated his war-ending record on social media and in public appearances, variously claiming to have ended 8, 9, or 10 wars without factual support. Fact-checkers have repeatedly debunked these assertions, yet Trump continues to invoke the falsehood as evidence of his diplomatic achievements and as grounds for his own Nobel Prize candidacy. His willingness to revise the number mid-interview—from “eight” to “eight and a quarter”—demonstrates the malleable nature of his claims.
Machado won the Nobel Peace Prize for her activism against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s regime and dedicated the honor to Trump during her acceptance. Trump publicly justified the U.S. invasion of Venezuela by stating the operation would secure control over Venezuelan oil reserves. When asked by Hannity whether he would meet with Machado and accept her prize, Trump expressed willingness but pivoted to amplifying his unsubstantiated war-ending claims instead of addressing her political situation or offering concrete support.
The interview highlights Trump’s pattern of manufacturing achievements through rhetorical inflation and repetition rather than documented accomplishment. By presenting fractional credit for unresolved conflicts as proof of peace-brokering success, Trump conflates aspiration with outcome while avoiding accountability for conflicts that persist. His eagerness to accept recognition he has not earned reflects his consistent approach to self-aggrandizement across foreign policy matters.