On June 7, 2026, NBC's "Meet the Press" program interviewed U.S. President Donald Trump. The host, Kristen Welker, questioned Trump over his "consistent campaign promises," dating back to 2015, to start "no new wars" as president.
Welker asked Trump whether he had broken "that promise to the American people" in his second term, to which he replied, "No."
The president then denied that he "guarantee[d] no war" prior to taking office for a second time in 2025, adding, "I didn't promise anything. I don't like these endless wars. This is not an endless war," the last sentence referencing the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran.
Soon after the interview aired, social media users similarly claimed that Trump had promised "no new wars" ahead of his second administration. Some accused him of lying in the "Meet the Press" interview. For example, one Facebook page wrote (archived):
President Donald Trump openly contradicted one of his most repeated campaign promises during an NBC interview with host Kristen Welker, insisting he never guaranteed the United States would stay out of new wars. Welker pushed back directly, noting Trump had made the claim "over and over again." Throughout the 2024 campaign, "no new wars" was a cornerstone of Trump's America First platform, making Sunday's denial a striking reversal with real consequences for Americans now watching U.S. forces engaged in active conflict with Iran.
Snopes readers also searched the site and sent us emails asking if Trump promised there would be no new wars with him as president.
In short, though Trump used the phrase "no new wars" more so in reference to his first term, he repeatedly said on the 2024 presidential campaign trail that there would be "no more wars" if he was elected again. Given the two phrases carry the same fundamental meaning, we rated this comment as being correctly attributed to the president.
A timeline of Trump's 'no wars' comments
Following his first term, Trump frequently touted that the U.S. got into "no new wars" while he was president. In his Jan. 19, 2021, farewell address on the last day of his presidency, Trump said (all emphases below, in bold, ours), "I am especially proud to be the first President in decades who has started no new wars."
Trump continued to use that language when referring to his first term, telling a CPAC convention in March 2023, "I was the only president in modern history who did not have any new wars."
But during his 2024 campaign, Trump shifted the language of his promise to "no more wars" or "no wars."
While formally accepting the Republican nomination for president in July 2024, Trump told the party's convention, "With our victory in November, the years of war, weakness, and chaos will be over. I don't have wars. I had no wars."
That messaging started sounding more like a promise in August that year. During an Aug. 14 rally, Trump told the crowd that with him as president there would be, "No more wars. No more disruptions. We will have prosperity and we will have peace."
A few days later, at an Aug. 17 rally, Trump explicitly told his supporters that the U.S. would not wage wars during his presidency: "Under Trump, we will have no more wars, no more disruptions, and we will have prosperity and peace for all."
In an October rally, Trump initially cited Hungarian then-President Viktor Orbán instead of directly making the promise himself. Immediately after mentioning Orbán, Trump then repeated the promise: "Viktor Orbán said, 'If Trump comes back, you won't have any wars. You won't have any wars.' And he's about as tough as they get. And he said it loud and clear and he said why. But you won't have any war."
Notably, soon after Trump said that in the October rally, he answered a press question about responding to Iranian attacks against Israel by saying of the Islamic Republic, "the president of the United States should blow that country to smithereens."
Finally, when Trump accepted his victory in the 2024 presidential election in November that year, he promised the audience he was "not going to start a war. I'm going to stop wars."
The Republican Party's 2024 platform "to Make America Great Again" did not promise no new wars in general. It instead promised to "PREVENT WORLD WAR THREE." That document also promised to "STRENGTHEN AND MODERNIZE OUR MILITARY, MAKING IT, WITHOUT QUESTION, THE STRONGEST AND MOST POWERFUL IN THE WORLD."
It did, however, include a line saying, "War breeds Inflation while geopolitical stability brings price stability. Republicans will end the global chaos and restore Peace through Strength, reducing geopolitical risks and lowering commodity prices."
In sum, though the president sometimes contradicted his promise on the campaign trail and his party did not make such a grand promise in its platform, Trump did repeatedly tell Americans he would not get into any wars when seeking their vote for the 2024 election.