Trump On Pakistan: President's Threat To Withhold Aid Elicits Varied Reactions

Pakistan angrily responded Monday after President Donald Trump accused its leaders of "lies & deceit" and suggested the United States would withdraw financial aid to the nuclear-armed nation it once saw as a key ally against terrorism. Trump started his New Year by sending an angry tweet stating it was time for change in Iran and criticizing Pakistan.

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."

In another tweet he wrote: "Iran is failing at every level despite the terrible deal made with them by the Obama Administration. The great Iranian people have been repressed for many years. They are hungry for food & for freedom. Along with human rights, the wealth of Iran is being looted. TIME FOR CHANGE!," referring to the nuclear pact sealed under his Democratic predecessor Barack Obama.

U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan, David Hale, was summoned to the Foreign Ministry in order to discuss the president’s statement, U.S. Embassy spokesman Richard Snelsire said on Monday. Pakistan asked for clarification about the U.S. president’s comments, according to two foreign office officials who wanted to remain anonymous because as they were not authorized to speak publicly, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, called a Cabinet meeting scheduled to be held on Tuesday and a meeting of the National Security Committee set for Wednesday in order to discuss Trump’s New Year’s Day tweet.

Abbasi told the Guardian on Monday: "We have called a cabinet meeting on this issue tomorrow."

Reactions to Trump’s post on Twitter were mixed, as some said he was right in what he said, while some argued he should not blame Pakistan as most people in the U.S. feel about the president in the exact same way.

Trump's son Donald Trump Jr. echoed his father's view on Twitter about Pakistan and wrote:

Pakistan’s foreign minister, Khawaja Asif, told Geo television on Monday that Pakistan has already refused to "do more” for the United States. "We have already told the U.S. that we will not do more, so Trump’s 'no more' does not hold any importance."

He tweeted: “We will respond to President Trump’s tweet shortly inshallah ... Will let the world know the truth … difference between facts & fiction.”

The Trump administration has been considering withholding $225 million in aid from Pakistan over the country’s handling of terrorism, a recent New York Times report said.

The unpleasant relationship between the United States and Pakistan has been on a downward spiral since the 2011 U.S. operation that located and killed founder of al-Qaeda Osama bin Laden in the military garrison town of Abbottabad, located about 118 kilometers from the capital Islamabad.

In November this year, the White House also condemned Pakistan’s release of Hafiz Saeed, who had been accused of masterminding the 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people in the Indian financial hub.