Trump looks forward to meeting new leadership in Pakistan
03 January, 2019
US President Donald Trump on Thursday said that he "looks forward to meeting the new leadership in Pakistan" but not without accusing Islamabad of "housing the enemy", CNN reported.
Trump's remarks came when he was making a point about his ongoing disagreement with Congressional lawmakers over allocation of finances that has led to a partial shut down of the US government.
The US president, while addressing a cabinet meeting, defended his demand to build a $5 billion wall, questioning why "we give away money to other countries but not to our own country".
"It's unfair when we give money to Guatemala and Honduras and El Salvador and they do nothing to us," he added.
Trump reminded his audience that it was him who had discontinued the funds given to Pakistan, saying: "When we give money to Pakistan, $1.3 billion, I ended that. A lot of people don't know it, because they haven't been fair to us."
"We want to have a great relationship with Pakistan, but they house the enemy, they take care of the enemy," he said. "We just can't do that. So, I look forward to meeting with the folks from — and the new leadership in Pakistan, we'll be doing that in the not-too-distant future. I ended the 1.3 billion we paid, it's like water, we just do it."
The US president, who last month wrote to Prime Minister Imran Khan seeking Pakistan's assistance in achieving a negotiated settlement of the Afghan war, said he wants to have better relations with Pakistan but levelled a grave allegation in the same breath.
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