US President Donald Trump appeared to mix up India with Iran while repeating his claim that tariffs had prevented a potential nuclear conflict between India and Pakistan. The president has long boasted that his trade policies helped end “five or six” of the “eight wars” he says he halted during his tenure.

Asked whether the United States was heading into a protracted trade war with China, Trump launched into a wide-ranging defence of his tariff policy. Speaking to reporters at the White House, he said: “We have a 100 per cent tariff. If we didn’t have tariffs, we would be exposed as being a nothing. We would have no defence. They’ve used tariffs on us, but we’ve never had anybody sitting in that chair who felt the need to do it.”

Trump claimed that tariffs had been responsible for keepin

See Full Page