Trump: Pakistan Has Played US for ‘Fools’

Pakistan: US Offers Nothing But 'Invective and Mistrust'

Since setting out his plan for Afghan escalation, President Trump has repeatedly criticized Pakistan for not doing enough to support the US war. On Monday, Trump accused Pakistan of having played the US for fools in the course of foreign aid, getting $33 billion for “nothing.”

Trump pledged to stop aid to Pakistan, pending a review of their “level of cooperation.” Absent in this, as with most cuts in funds to Pakistan, is that many of the US payments to Pakistan are intended as payments for services rendered by the Pakistani government in the course of the Afghan War.

Pakistan has been increasingly annoyed by Trump’s criticism for months, and was quick to fire back after this most recent comment, saying all the US ever offers is “invective and mistrust,” despite all of Pakistan’s intelligence cooperation and use of land and air communications.

Over the course of the Afghan War, the US has commonly scapegoated Pakistan as the reason things are going poorly, a position which has found favor with Afghan governments that have tried to improve relations with India at the expense of historical ties to Pakistan.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.