WASHINGTON (AP) — At least two of several agreements aimed at ending global conflicts that President Donald Trump has hailed as evidence of his negotiating prowess are in trouble and at risk of collapsing.
Less than a week after Congo and Rwanda signed a deal in Trump’s presence in Washington that was meant to halt fighting in eastern Congo, and less than two months after he witnessed Cambodia and Thailand sign a ceasefire pact in Malaysia to end their border conflict, fighting has surged in both places.
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People arrive at Prey Chamkar Ta Doak market, as they leave the area near the border with Thailand, in Banteay Meanchey province of Cambodia's, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
FILE - Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, right, and Thailand's Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, left, react during a signing ceremony on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Sunday, Oct. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
President Donald Trump, Rwanda's President Paul Kagame and Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix-Antoine Tshisekedi, during a signing ceremony at the U.S. Institute of Peace, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
President Donald Trump arrives for a signing ceremony with Rwanda's President Paul Kagame and Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix-Antoine Tshisekedi at the U.S. Institute of Peace, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
The developments have caused international alarm, which on Tuesday resulted in urgent calls to halt the renewed violence from countries involved in the African Great Lakes region and from U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
In each case, the statements urged the combatants to live up to their commitments in the deals that Trump has touted in part as the rationale for casting himself as the “president of peace.”
Trump late Tuesday expressed confidence that once again he could end the fighting between Cambodia and Thailand.
“Tomorrow I’ll have to make a phone call,” Trump said at a rally in Pennsylvania. “Who else could say, ‘I’m going to make a phone call and stop a war of two very powerful countries, Thailand and Cambodia?’”
A joint statement released by the International Contact Group for the Great Lakes expressed “profound concern” over the situation in Congo’s South Kivu region, where new deadly violence blamed on the Rwandan-backed M23 militia group has exploded in recent days.
“The ICG urges the M23 and the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) to immediately halt their offensive operations in eastern DRC, in particular in South Kivu, and calls on the RDF to withdraw from eastern DRC and on M23 to return to its positions” as stipulated in multiple agreements that culminated in the signing of a deal in Washington on Thursday with Presidents Felix Tshisekedi of Congo and Paul Kagame of Rwanda.
The White House had touted it as a “historic” agreement brokered by Trump following monthslong peace efforts by the U.S. and its partners, including the African Union and Qatar, finalizing an earlier deal signed in June.
“It’s a great day for Africa, a great day for the world,” Trump said then. He added, “Today, we’re succeeding where so many others have failed.”
The Great Lakes contact group — which includes Belgium, Britain, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, the United States and the European Union — urged all sides “to uphold their commitments” under the deal signed last week and “immediately de-escalate the situation.”
The State Department, using an acronym for the Democratic Republic of Congo, said the U.S. “is deeply concerned by the ongoing violence in eastern DRC, driving displacement and inflicting suffering on countless families.”
“The Trump administration continues to advance its diplomatic engagement on this important issue, working to ensure the full implementation of the recently signed agreements and restore stability on the ground,” it said. “We are working closely with regional partners to uphold the commitments made and reinforce the ceasefire.”
In a separate statement, Rubio said the U.S. is concerned by an uptick in fighting between Cambodia and Thailand along their contested border, just over a month after the two countries signed an agreement in Malaysia that was pushed for by Trump.
“We strongly urge the immediate cessation of hostilities, the protection of civilians, and for both sides to return to the deescalatory measures outlined in the Oct. 26 Kuala Lumpur Peace Accords,” Rubio said in a statement.
The Cambodia-Thailand deal has been faltering for weeks, but it took a big hit when fighting broke out following a weekend skirmish in which two Thai soldiers were injured. Five days of fighting since has left dozens dead on both sides and forced the evacuation of over 100,000 civilians.
A senior Trump administration official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, said the president expected Thailand and Cambodia, as well as Rwanda and Congo, to “honor their commitments” to halt the violence. The official says the administration is monitoring the situation in Congo closely and that Trump has told both sides he is expecting “immediate results.”
Trump has repeatedly cited seven or eight agreements, including these two, as proof of his success in ending conflicts, although another one — an internationally endorsed plan to end the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza — is still not finalized and in limbo, with sporadic fighting continuing while a critical second phase remains a work in progress.
His efforts to halt the fighting between Russia and Ukraine have so far proven unsuccessful. Other deals Trump has been involved with and claimed as successes include those between India and Pakistan, Armenia and Azerbaijan, Israel and Iran, Kosovo and Serbia, and Egypt and Ethiopia.
Associated Press writer Aamer Madhani contributed to this report.
People arrive at Prey Chamkar Ta Doak market, as they leave the area near the border with Thailand, in Banteay Meanchey province of Cambodia's, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
FILE - Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, right, and Thailand's Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, left, react during a signing ceremony on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Sunday, Oct. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
President Donald Trump, Rwanda's President Paul Kagame and Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix-Antoine Tshisekedi, during a signing ceremony at the U.S. Institute of Peace, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
President Donald Trump arrives for a signing ceremony with Rwanda's President Paul Kagame and Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix-Antoine Tshisekedi at the U.S. Institute of Peace, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
MOUNT POCONO, Pa. (AP) — On the road in Pennsylvania on Tuesday, President Donald Trump tried to emphasize his focus on combating inflation, yet the issue that has damaged his popularity couldn't quite command his full attention.
The president told the crowd gathered at a casino and resort in Mount Pocono that inflation was no longer a problem and that Democrats had used the term “affordability” as a “hoax” to hurt his reputation. But his remarks weaved wildly to include grievances he first raised behind closed doors in his first term in 2018 — and later denied saying — asking why the U.S. doesn't have more immigrants from Scandinavia.
“Why is it we only take people from s—-hole countries, right?” Trump said onstage. "Why can’t we have some people from Norway, Sweden, just a few?”
Trump said he objected to taking immigrants from “hellholes like Afghanistan, Haiti, Somalia and many other countries." He added for emphasis that those places “are a disaster, right? Filthy, dirty, disgusting, ridden with crime.”
Tuesday’s gathering in the swing state — and in a competitive House district — was an official White House event, yet it seemed more like one of his signature campaign rallies that his chief of staff said he would hold regularly ahead of next year’s midterms. But instead of being held in an arena that could draw several thousand attendees, it was held in a conference center ballroom at the Mount Airy Casino Resort in Mount Pocono, a small town of about 3,000 residents.
Following dismal results for Republicans in last month's off-cycle elections, the White House has sought to convince voters that the economy will emerge stronger next year and that any anxieties over inflation have nothing to do with Trump.
He displayed a chart comparing price increases under his predecessor, Joe Biden, to prices under his own watch, but the inflation rate has only climbed since he announced broad tariffs in April and left many Americans worried about their grocery, utility and housing bills.
“I have no higher priority than making America affordable again,” Trump said. “They caused the high prices and we’re bringing them down."
As the president spoke, his party's political vulnerabilities were further seen as Miami voters chose Eileen Higgins to be their first Democratic mayor in nearly 30 years. Higgins defeated the Trump-endorsed Republican Emilio Gonzalez.
The president's reception in the county hosting his Tuesday rally showed he could still appeal to the base, but it was unable to settle questions of whether he could hold together his 2024 coalition. Monroe County flipped to Trump last year after having backed Biden in 2020, helping the Republican win the swing state of Pennsylvania and return to the White House after a four-year hiatus.
As home to the Pocono Mountains, the county has largely relied on tourism for skiing, hiking, hunting and other activities as a source of jobs. Its proximity to New York City — under two hours by car — has also attracted people seeking more affordable housing.
But what seems undeniable — even to Trump supporters in Monroe County — is that inflation seems to be here to stay.
Lou Heddy, a retired maintenance mechanic who voted for Trump last year, said he’s noticed in the past month alone that his and his wife’s grocery bills have risen from $175 to $200, and he’s not sure Trump can bring food prices down.
“Once the prices get up for food, they don’t ever come back down. That’s just the way I feel. I don’t know how the hell he would do it,” said Heddy, 72.
But Suzanne Vena, a Democratic voter, blames Trump’s tariffs for making life more expensive, as she struggles with rising bills for food, rent and electricity on a fixed income. She remembers Trump saying that he would stop inflation.
“That’s what we were originally told,” said Vena, 66. “Did I believe it? That’s another question. I did not.”
The area Trump visited could help decide control of the House in next year's midterm elections.
Trump held his rally in a congressional district held by first-term Republican Rep. Rob Bresnahan, who is a top target of Democrats. Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti, a Democrat, is running for the nomination to challenge him.
Speaking to the crowd before Trump, Bresnahan said the administration was working to lower costs, but voters “aren’t asking for partisan arguments — they’re asking for results.”
It's not clear if Trump can motivate voters in Monroe County to show up in next year's election if they're worried about inflation.
Nick Riley, 38, said he’s cutting back on luxuries, like going out to eat, as he absorbs higher bills for food and electricity and is having a hard time finding a good deal on a used car. Riley voted for Trump in 2020, but he sat out the 2024 election and plans to do so again next year.
“We’re all broke. It doesn’t matter whether you support Republicans or support Democrats,” Riley said. “We’re all broke, and we’re all feeling it.”
White House chief of staff Susie Wiles said on the online conservative talk show “The Mom View” that Trump would be on the campaign trail next year to engage supporters who otherwise might sit out a congressional race.
Wiles, who helped manage Trump's 2024 campaign, said most administrations try to localize midterm elections and keep the president out of the race, but she intends to do the opposite of that.
“We’re actually going to turn that on its head," Wiles said, "and put him on the ballot because so many of those low-propensity voters are Trump voters.”
The challenge for Trump is how to address the concerns of voters about the economy while simultaneously claiming that the economy is enjoying a historic boom.
Asked on a Politico podcast how he'd rate the economy, Trump leaned into grade inflation by answering “A-plus,” only to then amend his answer to “A-plus-plus-plus-plus-plus.”
The U.S. economy has shown signs of resilience with the stock market up this year and overall growth looking solid for the third quarter. But many Americans see the prices of housing, groceries, education, electricity and other basic needs as swallowing up their incomes, a dynamic that the Trump administration has said it expects to fade next year with more investments in artificial intelligence and manufacturing.
So far, the public has been skeptical about Trump's economic performance. Just 33% of U.S. adults approve of Trump's handling of the economy, according to a November survey by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
But Trump indicated that his tariffs and other policies were helping industries such as the steel sector. He said those industries mattered for the country as he then specifically told Americans that they should buy fewer pencils and dolls from overseas.
“You don’t need 37 dolls for your daughter,” he told the crowd. “Two or three is nice.”
Boak reported from Washington.
People arrive before President Donald Trump speaks at Mount Airy Casino Resort, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025, in Mount Pocono, Pa. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Donald Trump speaks with reporters while in flight on Air Force One from Joint Base Andrews to Avoca, Pa., Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Donald Trump exits Marine One, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025, at Joint Base Andrews, Md., for a trip to Pennsylvania. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
People wait in line to hear President Donald Trump speak at the Mount Airy Casino Resort in Mt. Pocono, Pa., Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
People wait in line to hear President Donald Trump speak at the Mount Airy Casino Resort in Mt. Pocono, Pa., Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Lou Heddy, 72, poses for a photo while shopping at the Stroud Mall, Dec. 9, 2025, in Stroudsburg, Pa. (AP Photo/Marc Levy)
President Donald Trump listens during a roundtable on farm subsidies in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Monday, Dec. 8, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Donald Trump arrives for the lighting of the National Christmas Tree on the Ellipse, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025, near the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
