Thailand and Cambodia reached a ceasefire deal ‘through trade,’ President Donald Trump announced Monday, ending a burgeoning conflict that displaced 260,000 people.
The declaration from Trump comes after he said over the weekend that he had spoken to the leaders of Cambodia and Thailand, urging a ceasefire, adding the U.S. would not get back to the ‘trading table’ with the southeast Asian countries until fighting stops.
The fighting began Thursday after a land mine explosion along the border wounded five Thai soldiers. Both sides blamed each other for starting the clashes that have killed at least 35 people and displaced more than 260,000 people on both sides.
‘Numerous people were killed and I was dealing with two countries that we get along with very well, very different countries from certain standpoints. They’ve been fighting for 500 years intermittently. And, we solved that war … we solved it through trade,’ Trump told reporters during his trip to Scotland.
‘I said, ‘I don’t want to trade with anybody that’s killing each other.’ So we just got that one solved. And I’m going to call the two prime ministers who I got along with very, very well and speak to them right after this meeting and congratulate them. But it was an honor to be involved in that. That was going to be a very nasty war. Those wars have been very, very nasty,’ Trump also said.
‘By ending this War, we have saved thousands of lives. I have instructed my Trade Team to restart negotiations on Trade. I have now ended many Wars in just six months — I am proud to be the President of PEACE!’ Trump added in a post on Truth Social.
As part of the ceasefire deal, military commanders from both sides will begin to hold talks Tuesday to defuse tensions while Cambodia will host a border committee meeting on Aug. 4, according to Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
He added that the foreign and defense ministers of Malaysia, Cambodia and Thailand have also been instructed to ‘develop a detailed mechanism’ to implement and monitor the ceasefire to ensure sustained peace.
It is ‘time to start rebuilding trust, confidence and cooperation going forward between Thailand and Cambodia,’ Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet said during a press conference in Malaysia alongside Thai Acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote on X that the U.S. ‘applauds the ceasefire declaration between Cambodia and Thailand announced today in Kuala Lumpur.’
‘President Trump made this happen. Give him the Nobel Peace Prize!’ added White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
Fox News’ Brie Stimson and the Associated Press contributed to this report.