Donald Trump has opened the new year by threatening to withhold aid to Pakistan, a longtime US ally, accusing Islamabad of “giving us nothing but lies and deceit” and “thinking of our leaders as fools”.
The US president used his first tweet of 2018 to single out the south Asian power and accuse it of harbouring terrorists, repeating a complaint that has been an irritant in bilateral ties since the September 11 attacks of 2001.
“The United States has foolishly given Pakistan more than 33 billion dollars in aid over the last 15 years, and they have given us nothing but lies & deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools. They give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more!” Mr Trump wrote.