Trump and Khan brawl on Twitter: what does it mean for the US-Pakistan relationship?
- The US-Pakistan spat has escalated just as Khan’s administration is seeking financial bailouts from its traditional allies and the International Monetary Fund
- For Khan, the argument with Trump may have been politically convenient and a welcome distraction from troubles closer to home
US President Donald Trump’s recent criticism of Pakistan not “doing a damn thing” for Washington, despite receiving billions of dollars in aid, this week provoked an equally combative response from Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan.
It is unclear, though, whether the acrimony will have any long-term implications for the relationship – or whether it was merely an exchange between two leaders seeking to curry favour at home.
Nor was it the first time Trump mentioned Pakistan in a scathing tone. In his first tweet of 2018, the president accused Pakistan of receiving US$33 billion in aid and doing nothing for the US. On Sunday, he revisited the topic while discussing the killing of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in 2011.
He tweeted: “Of course we should have captured Osama bin Laden long before we did. I pointed him out in my book just BEFORE the attack on the World Trade Center. President Clinton famously missed his shot. We paid Pakistan Billions of Dollars & they never told us he was living there. Fools!
“We no longer pay Pakistan the $Billions because they would take our money and do nothing for us, Bin Laden being a prime example, Afghanistan being another. They were just one of many countries that take from the United States without giving anything in return. That’s ENDING!”
