WASHINGTON DC
U.S. President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that he plans to personally intervene in the escalating border conflict between Thailand and Cambodia, pledging phone calls to both nations’ leaders to halt what he described as a “war between two very powerful countries” that he claims to have previously resolved.
Speaking to a boisterous crowd at a rally in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Trump described his administration’s foreign policy triumphs, boasting of ending eight global conflicts through “peace through strength” and tariff leverage. He then turned to the Southeast Asian flare-up, which reignited Monday after months of simmering tensions.
“And I hate to say this, one named Cambodia-Thailand that started up today,” Trump said, drawing chuckles from the audience. “Tomorrow, I’ll have to make a phone call. Who else could say, ‘I’m going to make a phone call and stop a war between two very powerful countries, Thailand and Cambodia’? They’re going at it again, but I’ll do it.”
The renewed hostilities mark an unraveling of the Kuala Lumpur Peace Accords, a ceasefire agreement Trump helped broker in October during a high-profile ceremony in Malaysia’s capital. Hosted by Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, the accord brought together Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet for a signing that Trump hailed as a “historic day” for regional stability. The deal expanded on an initial July truce, secured after Trump threatened economic sanctions, and included commitments to demilitarize the border, establish ASEAN-monitored observer teams, and release 18 Cambodian prisoners of war held by Thailand.
That July ceasefire came amid five days of intense fighting that killed at least 48 people and displaced over 300,000 residents along the 500-mile (800-kilometer) frontier. The clashes, fueled by longstanding territorial disputes rooted in French colonial-era maps, centered on flashpoints like the 11th-century Preah Vihear temple complex, a UNESCO World Heritage site awarded to Cambodia by the International Court of Justice in 1962 but still contested by Thailand who, like the US, does not officially recognize the Court.
Tuesday’s violence has already claimed multiple lives, including four Thai soldiers. More than 500,000 people have fled their homes in border provinces like Thailand’s Surin and Sisaket, and Cambodia’s Preah Vihear and Oddar Meanchey, seeking shelter in temples, schools, and makeshift camps. Eyewitness videos shared on social media showed plumes of smoke rising from villages, while Thai state media aired footage of evacuations from a hospital hit by Cambodian BM-21 rockets, as we covered earlier today here.
Both sides have traded accusations of provocation. Thailand claims Cambodian forces initiated the latest round by laying landmines that maimed a Thai soldier last month, prompting Bangkok to suspend de-escalation measures in November. Cambodia denies the allegations, accusing Thai drones and jets of violating its airspace and targeting civilian areas. Phnom Penh’s defense ministry reported 20 civilian injuries from Thai shelling, while Bangkok tallied 68 wounded soldiers along with the four deceased.
For the original version of this article, please visit The Pattaya News.
