Trump says he 'stopped a war' by preserving a ceasefire between Cambodia and Thailand
The US president says he has spoken by phone with the Cambodian and Thai prime ministers, and that “they’re doing great”.
Malaysia's Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, Thailand's Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Manet and US President Donald Trump hold up documents during the signing of a ceasefire deal between Cambodia and Thailand on the sidelines of the 47th ASEAN summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Oc 26, 2025. (Photo: Reuters/Evelyn Hockstein)
WASHINGTON: United States President Donald Trump said Friday (Nov 14) that he had successfully eased hostilities between Cambodia and Thailand, saying that he had been able to preserve a ceasefire that had appeared to be breaking down.
“I stopped a war just today,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One as he flew to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida for the weekend.
He said his actions were made possible by his willingness to impose steep tariffs on countries around the world, which he has argued gives the US great leverage on trade and diplomatic leverage.
The president said he had spoken to the prime ministers of both countries by phone.
“They’re doing great. They were not doing great,” said Trump.
“I think they’re going to be fine.”
Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said on Saturday that Bangkok would not adhere to the agreement until Cambodia admitted its violation and issued an apology for the latest incident.
Anutin posted on Facebook after speaking to Trump and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim that Thailand has the right to take any action necessary to protect its sovereignty and ensure the safety of its people and property from foreign threats.
He said he asked Trump and Anwar, who has been a mediator in the dispute, to tell Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet to abide by the agreement and not to interfere in the removal of mines.
Hun Manet said in a Facebook post on Saturday that Phnom Penh would continue to implement the deal and hoped both sides would continue to work together in accordance with the agreed principles and mechanism.
Trump also engaged with Malaysia on Friday, a White House official said.
Anwar posted on X that Cambodia and Thailand were ready to "continue choosing the space for dialogue and diplomatic efforts as an effective path to resolution".
Territorial disputes over exactly where the border lies between the Southeast Asian neighbours led to five days of armed conflict in late July that killed dozens of soldiers and civilians.
Trump threatened to withhold trade privileges from the two countries unless they stopped fighting, helping to broker a temporary halt to the conflict.
The pact was then reaffirmed in greater detail last month, when Trump attended an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit meeting in Malaysia.
The ceasefire seemed on the verge of falling apart this week, however, when Hun Manet said a villager was killed after shooting broke out along his country’s border with Thailand.
Manet said one civilian was killed and three others wounded when Thai troops opened fire on civilians residing in the area of Prey Chan in Cambodia’s northwestern province of Banteay Meanchey. The same village was the site of a violent but not lethal confrontation in September between Thai security personnel and Cambodian villagers.
The Thai military said that the latest incident began when Cambodian soldiers allegedly fired into a district in Thailand’s eastern province of Sa Kaeo. No Thai casualties were reported.
Thailand and Cambodia have a history of enmity going back centuries, when they were warring empires. Their competing territorial claims stem largely from a 1907 map drawn when Cambodia was under French colonial rule, which Thailand has argued is inaccurate.
The ceasefire does not spell out a path to resolve the underlying basis of the dispute - the longstanding differences over where the border should run.
