Trump claims he ended Congo war, says he deserves Nobel Peace Prize after 'settling eight wars'

ANKARA, TURKEY: President Donald Trump took credit for ending eight ongoing conflicts during a press gaggle aboard Air Force One returning from the NATO summit in Turkey, including the war between Congo and Rwanda, which he claimed had resulted in 15 million people being killed in gruesome circumstances over 14 years.

On the flight, a reporter asked the president about a recent claim: apparently, the Trump administration told exiled Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado not to go back to Venezuela. According to The Wall Street Journal, Machado was already on a plane heading home when Trump changed his mind and withdrew his support for her return.

Trump says he deserves Nobel Peace Prize more than anyone

"Think of the wars I settled," Trump told reporters.

He said, "Eight. Wars that were going on for 30 years. Even if you look in the Congo. The Congo vs Rwanda. I settled it after 14 years and about 15 million people had their heads chopped off. I settled that one. I settled eight wars."

Trump's comments came in the context of Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado's decision to present him with her Nobel Peace Prize in January, shortly after the US raid that led to the removal of then-Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

Machado had appeared to be positioning herself for a leadership role in Venezuela following Maduro's removal, but Trump has so far continued to recognize Maduro's former vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, who has complied with Trump's demands.

Trump denied having any involvement in a recent Wall Street Journal report claiming the administration had told Machado not to return to Venezuela while she was already on a flight back to the country. He then pivoted to the Machado tribute and his broader peace record.

"When she won the Nobel Prize for Peace, she said, 'I can't believe I won. The only one that should win it is Trump,'" he recounted.

He then offered his own assessment. "I should've won that award more than anybody that ever received the Nobel Peace Prize, because nobody's settled wars. I settled eight of them. Because I'm a certain type of personality, I was able to settle them."

Congo-Rwanda agreement signed in 2025 but fighting has continued

In 2025, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo met in Washington and struck a deal to stop the fighting, a move Trump often points to as a highlight of his second term’s foreign policy.

Even after the agreement, though, clashes keep breaking out between Congolese forces and rebels backed by Rwanda. A lot of people think the deal could collapse any day now.

The Trump administration still touts the Washington agreement as proof that Trump can pull off peace deals where others failed. But the White House hasn’t said anything else about the deal’s shaky status, or about Trump’s casualty numbers from his chat with reporters on Air Force One.