ISLAMABAD (AP) – President Donald Trump slammed Pakistan for `lies & deceit’ in a New Year’s Day tweet that said Islamabad had played U.S. leaders for `fools’.
`No more,’ Trump tweeted.
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!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 1, 2018
Meanwhile, Pakistan had no official comment but Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif tweeted that his government was preparing a response that `will let the world know the truth.’
The uneasy relationship between the United States and Pakistan has been on a downward spiral since the 2011 U.S. operation that located and killed Osama bin Laden in the military garrison town of Abbottabad, about 118 kilometers (65 miles) from the capital Islamabad.
Trump ratcheted up the pressure last year when he announced his Afghan strategy that called out Pakistan for harboring Afghan Taliban insurgents warning it would have to end.
Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. (Photo: White House)
