Donald Trump has launched an extraordinary verbal attack on Pakistan, accusing its government of “lies and deceit” in accepting billions of dollars in US aid.
The US President also accused Pakistan of providing a “safe haven to terrorists”, alluding to the support it reportedly provides to terror groups such as the Taliban-allied Haqqani network.
The US is reportedly considering withholding $255m (£188m) in aid that has already been delayed since August, “as a show of dissatisfaction with Pakistan’s broader intransigence toward confronting the terrorist networks that operate there”, The New York Times reports.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The Pakistani defence minister Khurram Dastgir Khan turned the criticism back on Trump, claiming the US has given Pakistan “nothing but invective & mistrust”, and claiming US officials “overlook cross-border safe havens of terrorists who murder Pakistanis”.
Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai welcomed the tweet from Trump, the BBC reports, saying the message “on Pakistan’s duplicitous position over the past 15 years is vindication that the war on terror is not in bombing Afghan villages and homes but in the sanctuaries beyond Afghanistan”.
Tensions between Washington and Islamabad were heightened in October when Pakistan refused to allow the US access to a captured militant from the Haqqani network.
-
Has ‘poppy politics’ got out of hand?Talking Point ‘Toxic’ debate over red and white poppies is another front in the culture wars
-
Vladimir Putin’s ‘nuclear tsunami’ missileIn The Spotlight Russian president has boasted that there is no way to intercept the new weapon
-
Sudoku hard: November 11, 2025The Week's daily hard sudoku puzzle
-
Trump’s trade war: has China won?Talking Point US president wanted to punish Beijing, but the Asian superpower now holds the whip hand
-
‘This is where adaptation enters’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Trump ordered to fully fund SNAPSpeed Read The Justice Department is appealing the decision
-
Trump tariffs face stiff scrutiny at Supreme CourtSpeed Read Even some of the Court’s conservative justices appeared skeptical
-
The longest US government shutdown in historyThe Explainer Federal employees and low-income households have been particularly affected by ‘partisan standoffs’ in Washington
-
Democrats seek 2026 inspiration from special election routsIN THE SPOTLIGHT High-profile wins are helping a party demoralized by Trump’s reelection regain momentum
-
‘Not all news is bad’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
A most profitable presidencyfeature Donald Trump has added $3 billion to his wealth since returning to the White House. How?
