Trump Says Leaders of Thailand and Cambodia Agree to Cease-Fire

Thailand’s prime minister said he had talked with the U.S. president, urging him to pressure Cambodia to resolve a deadly border clash, after a previous truce broke down.

President Trump said on Friday that Thailand and Cambodia had agreed to a cease-fire, as he sought to restore his image as a peacemaker after a deal he had brokered to end a border conflict between the two Southeast Asian countries unraveled this week.

The two warring countries did not immediately confirm or deny a truce. Earlier on Friday, Thailand’s prime minister, Anutin Charnvirakul, said he had urged Mr. Trump to tell Cambodia to remove its troops and land mines from the border area. He did not mention anything about a cease-fire, and Thailand’s foreign ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

In a post on Truth Social, Mr. Trump said he had spoken by phone with Mr. Anutin, and Cambodia’s leader, Hun Manet. The discussion with Mr. Hun Manet was not immediately confirmed by Cambodian officials, although the government’s spokesman had said they were hoping to talk with him.

Mr. Trump said the two leaders had agreed to return to the terms of the peace agreement that they signed in October. Five days of resumed fighting this week has killed at least 20 people and displaced more than half a million.

“Both Countries are ready for PEACE and continued Trade with the United States of America,” Mr. Trump wrote. “It is my Honor to work with Anutin and Hun in resolving what could have evolved into a major War between two otherwise wonderful and prosperous Countries!”

It was unclear if Mr. Trump’s intervention this time would lead to a genuine breakthrough. The decades-long territorial dispute stems from a map drawn by colonial France. Just over six weeks ago, Mr. Anutin and Mr. Hun Manet signed the peace deal in Malaysia, with Mr. Trump in attendance. But the pact was always tenuous, and it unraveled quickly.

Tensions boiled over on Monday, when Thailand launched airstrikes against Cambodia in retaliation for what it said was the killing of one Thai soldier and the wounding of others. Mr. Trump said it was a “roadside bomb” that killed and wounded the Thai troops, describing it as “an accident, but Thailand nevertheless retaliated very strongly.”

For days now, Thailand has carried out air attacks in Cambodia, which has responded with rocket fire.

Mr. Anutin said he told Mr. Trump that Thailand had not violated the peace deal, saying it was necessary for “Thailand to retaliate to protect our nation and our people.” He added, “This is why I had to explain to the president or he might misunderstand and see us as the aggressor.”

Mr. Anutin said he told Mr. Trump to tell Cambodia, “Thailand never wants anything from them, but they have to stop everything first.”

Cambodia has rejected Thailand’s assertions and has said it is collecting evidence against Thailand with the aim of filing a complaint with the International Criminal Court.

Before Mr. Trump’s call, the Thai and Cambodian armies continued their attacks.

Dek Koma, 25, who lives about 10 miles from the site of a clash in Cambodia’s Banteay Meanchey province, described intense gunfire on Thursday night and shelling that continued well into the night. “The explosions were very strong,” he said. “Before, they didn’t shell much at night.”

Thailand and Cambodia have exchanged fire in years past over their nearly 500-mile-long boundary, large parts of which are undefined. But the scope of the recent fighting has expanded beyond previous clashes.

“I don’t think it would be realistic to hope for breakthroughs at this stage,” said Napon Jatusripitak, director of the Center for Politics and Geopolitics at Thailand Future, a Bangkok-based research institution. The conflict is at a “level that we have not seen in history.”

The number of people displaced in Cambodia and Thailand has now exceeded those displaced in fighting over the summer.

Li Nam, 38, said the Cambodian authorities ordered him to leave his house in Oddar Meanchey province near the border on Thursday night. He had stayed when the fighting broke out on Monday to look after his wooden house, seven pigs, dozens of chickens and grocery store.

On Thursday night, after his village chief told him that his area was a “red zone,” he slept in the fields.

On Thursday night, Mr. Anutin — who only assumed office in September, after agreeing to early elections — dissolved Parliament sooner than expected, setting the stage for elections in January or February.

The previous prime minister, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, was suspended in July after a leaked call with the Cambodian strongman Hun Sen, father of the current prime minister, over the border dispute in which she appeared to be overly deferential.

The political horse-trading after her ouster all but ensured an election in the first half of 2026, instead of 2027 as originally scheduled.

Now, with new elections imminent, Mr. Anutin, as a caretaker prime minister, is expected to try to capitalize on the nationalist mood around the country to boost his reputation and the standing of his party, Bhumjaithai, which is close to Thailand’s powerful military.

Sun Narin contributed reporting from Banteay Meanchey Province in Cambodia and Kittiphum Sringammuang from Bangkok.

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