Trump's 2019 'let them fight' comment unrelated to India, Pakistan clash

"Trump's response to India and Pakistan fighting," says a May 7, 2025 post sharing the 16-second clip of Trump on X.

"Trump is right," says another. "Let India cleanse Pakistan of terrorism!"

The posts show Trump saying: "Here, and they're fighting each other. I said, 'Why don't you let them fight? Why are we getting in the middle of it?' I said, 'Let them fight' ... 'Sir, we want to do it.' They go in and they end up fighting both of them. It's the craziest thing I've ever seen."

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Screenshot from X taken May 6, 2025

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Screenshot from X taken May 6, 2025

The video spread across X and other platforms, including Facebook, as deadly clashes between India and Pakistan on May 6 sparked alarm and calls for restraint from around the world, including the United States.

The arch-foes traded heavy artillery fire along their contested frontier after New Delhi launched deadly missile strikes in response for an attack weeks earlier on the Indian-administered side of Kashmir. Nobody has claimed the April 22 attack, and Islamabad has denied responsibility, but New Delhi said the gunmen were from a Pakistan-based militant group designated by the United Nations as a terrorist organization.

India and Pakistan have fought multiple wars over the divided territory since the two neighboring countries were created when British colonial rule ended in 1947.

The video of Trump arguing to "let them fight," however, is unrelated to their latest conflict. It predates the May 6 violence by more than six years.

Trump made the remarks at a January 2, 2019 Cabinet meeting during his first White House term, keyword searches revealed (archived here and here). C-SPAN footage shows him speaking from a similar angle (archived here).

According to the official video and transcript of the meeting, Trump had been asked about Afghanistan, including the role he expected India to play.

In a winding response, Trump mentioned India, Pakistan and Russia while also criticizing General James Mattis, who had left his post as Trump's defense secretary a day earlier. He then turned to discussing America's presence and spending in Afghanistan -- where a month earlier he had decided to withdraw some 7,000 US troops -- and the fighting there between Islamic State and Taliban forces.

"Why are we there, and we're 6,000 miles away?" Trump said. "But I don't mind. We want to help our people. We want to help other nations. You do have terrorists, mostly Taliban, but ISIS.

"I mean, I'll give you an example. So, Taliban is our enemy. ISIS is our enemy. We have an area that I brought up with our generals four or five weeks ago, where Taliban is here, ISIS is here, and they're fighting each other. I said, 'Why don't you let them fight? Why are we getting in the middle of it?' I said, 'Let them fight. They're both our enemies. Let them fight.' 'Sir, we want to do it.' They go in and they end up fighting both of them. It's the craziest thing I've ever seen."

The president addressed the recent violence between India and Pakistan during a May 6, 2025 swearing-in ceremony for Steve Witkoff, the US special envoy to the Middle East. Asked for his reaction to the rising conflict, Trump called it "a shame" and, noting that the two sides have longstanding tensions, said he hoped "it ends very quickly" (archived here).

The next day, the president called for the fighting to stop and offered assistance bringing it to an end.

"We get along with both countries very well, good relationships with both, and I want to see it stop," Trump said May 7 in the Oval Office. "And if I can do anything to help, I will be there."

AFP has debunked other misinformation about the India-Pakistan conflict here.