Donald Trump caused a stir online with his statement suggesting that “without the United States everything in the world would die.”
The former President held a media briefing in the Oval Office on Tuesday (September 2) to announce the relocation of the US Space Command from Colorado to Alabama.
There was considerable speculation about Trump’s health leading up to the press event, with some unlikely social media theories even alleging that he had passed away.
One journalist inquired: “How did you find out over the weekend that you were dead? Did you see that?”
Trump replied: “No. Really, I didn’t see that… Last week, I did numerous news conferences, they went very well like this is going very well.
“I didn’t do any for two days and they said ‘there must be something wrong with him’.
“Biden wouldn’t do them for months, you wouldn’t see him, but nobody ever said there was anything wrong with him but we know he wasn’t in the greatest of shape.”
A body language expert noted that Trump appeared uneasy while addressing the question.
As is typical with Trump’s press conferences, the session on Tuesday was filled with noteworthy statements, including his claim that the world would ‘die’ without the US.
Trump stated: “Without the United States, the whole world would die. It’s [the US] so powerful, it’s so big. I made it really big in the first four years.”
He alleged that the nation began to ‘degenerate’ during the Biden administration, but now with his return to the White House, he’s succeeded in ‘building it up to a level I never thought we’d be at this quick’.
He commented: “We’re the hottest, we’re the best, we’re the best financially. The money coming in is so big because of tariffs.
“I settled seven wars and numerous of those wars were because of trade.”
Trump’s remarks have left many online users astounded, with one Reddit commenter stating: “Completely nuts.”
Another user remarked: “Delusional.”
For those puzzled about which wars Trump refers to, he previously mentioned on Mark Levin’s radio show: “I’ve settled six wars, and a lot of people say seven because there’s one that nobody knows about.”
The White House has since identified these seven conflicts as involving Israel and Iran, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Armenia and Azerbaijan, Thailand and Cambodia, India and Pakistan, Egypt and Ethiopia, and Serbia and Kosovo.
“There has been more progress towards peace than ever before because of this President’s leadership,” a Trump administration official commented.
Can Trump take all the credit, though?
Michael O’Hanlon, a senior fellow at Brookings, believes the president does merit some acknowledgment for the Middle East ceasefire.
“He managed to use a combination of a good relationship with Netanyahu, but also a willingness to put a little pressure on Netanyahu that I think contributed to the at least temporary cessation of hostilities,” he mentioned to CBS News.
However, Larry Haas, another senior fellow, countered: “I very strongly disagree with the notion that the president brought peace to Iran and Israel. We may be in a quiet period in terms of direct confrontation, but Iran right now is trying to regroup.”
Many of the other conflicts Trump claims to have resolved are considered questionable.
Josh Kurlantzick, a senior fellow for Southeast Asia and South Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations, stated that there is ‘no real ending’ to the India-Pakistan conflict.
O’Hanlon also commented on the Egypt-Ethiopia tensions: “I would not call the Egypt-Ethiopia interaction a war.”