President Donald J. Trump announced his intention to personally contact the leaders of Thailand and Cambodia on Tuesday night, as he sought to halt the renewed border conflict between the two nations that has intensified along their 500-mile frontier.
The announcement came during a rally in Pennsylvania where Trump stated: “Who else could say, ‘I’m going to make a phone call and stop a war of two very powerful countries.’ We’re making peace through strength.”
Heavy fighting has displaced over half a million people, with at least a dozen fatalities reported along the Thailand-Cambodia border. Recent clashes have seen Cambodian forces launch rocket attacks from populated residential areas, while Thai military units have pushed into Cambodian territory using infantry vehicles. Video footage from the front lines depicts intense exchanges involving artillery and precision-guided rockets.
The crisis follows the collapse of a Trump-brokered ceasefire agreement signed in October. That deal required both nations to withdraw heavy weapons, release detainees, and allow third-party observers, but it unraveled after a landmine explosion injured several Thai soldiers. Thai officials accused Cambodia of planting new mines, an allegation that Cambodian authorities denied.
The renewed hostilities occur as Trump promotes a series of international peace efforts. In Washington earlier this month, Rwanda and Congo signed the Washington Accords at the Trump Peace Institute, agreeing to a ceasefire, joint security measures, and economic cooperation. Trump has also touted negotiations that led to agreements between Israel and Hamas this past autumn and pressed Ukraine to reach a peace agreement with Russia by Christmas Day.
