The U.S. president said that he had ‘very good’ discussions with both sides, and that they are all looking to reach a cease-fire.
President Donald Trump said on Saturday that leaders of Thailand and Cambodia sought to end their deadly border clashes just moments after he threatened to withhold potential trade deals with both Southeast Asian countries unless the fighting stops.
In a series of posts on his Truth Social platform, Trump said he had spoken separately with Thailand’s acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai and Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Manet, urging an “immediate ceasefire.”
“Both Parties are looking for an immediate Ceasefire and Peace,” Trump wrote. They are also looking to get back to the Trading Table with the United States, which we think is inappropriate to do until such time as the fighting STOPS. They have agreed to immediately meet and quickly work out a Ceasefire and, ultimately, PEACE!”
“It was an Honor to deal with both Countries,” he continued. “They have a long and storied History and Culture. They will hopefully get along for many years to come.”
Trump is currently in Scotland on a four-day private visit.
His call for peace came minutes after another Truth Social post in which he said he was negotiating trade deals with both countries, but warned he would suspend those talks if the fighting continued.
“We happen to be, by coincidence, currently dealing on Trade with both Countries, but do not want to make any Deal, with either Country, if they are fighting—And I have told them so,” Trump wrote.
Earlier this month, Trump unveiled letters sent to 14 foreign governments—including 10 in Asia—in which he announced new tariffs by Aug. 1 unless they took steps to rebalance trade relations with the United States. Both Thailand and Cambodia would face a 36 percent reciprocal rate.
The Thai-Cambodian border conflict entered its third day on Saturday. Thai officials reported 19 fatalities, while Cambodian authorities said 13 people had been killed. Tens of thousands have been evacuated on both sides of the border.
“Many people are being killed in this War, but it very much reminds me of the Conflict between Pakistan and India, which was brought to a successful halt,” the president added on Truth Social, referring to his administration’s efforts to help broker a cease-fire in May after the two nuclear-armed rivals traded retaliatory blows.
Tensions between Thailand and Cambodia escalated last week after five Thai soldiers were wounded in a landmine explosion near the contested border. The two sides have long asserted sovereignty over various undemarcated points along their 500-mile land border, a legacy of the French colonization of Cambodia that ended in 1953.
Sporadic clashes over the decades have resulted in casualties among both soldiers and civilians. In May, a Cambodian soldier was killed in a border skirmish, sending bilateral relations to their lowest point in more than a decade.
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