Trump | Pakistan

US President Donald Trump has included Pakistan among countries that he claims are “testing nuclear weapons”, saying that he did not want the US to be the only country that does not do so. “North Korea has been testing. Pakistan has been testing. […] But they don’t go and tell you about it,” he said in an interview on CBS News programme ‘60 Minutes’, where he was asked about his recent directives to the Pentagon to resume testing nuclear weapons. He also named Russia and China as testing nuclear weapons. In a recent social media post, Trump had instructed the US Department of War to resume testing nuclear weapons “immediately”. Confusion has surrounded Trump’s order that the US begin testing, particularly if he meant conducting the country’s first nuclear explosion since 1992. When the matter was brought up during the interview, Trump said: “Well, we have more nuclear weapons than any other country. I think we should do something about denuclearisation. And I did actually discuss that with both Russian Presid...

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney confirmed on Saturday he apologised to United States President Donald Trump over an anti-tariff ad featuring former US leader Ronald Reagan and had told Ontario Premier Doug Ford not to run it. Trump announced he would be hiking tariffs on Canadian goods by an additional 10 per cent and terminated all trade talks following what he called the “fake” anti-tariff ad campaign. “I did apologise to the president. The president was offended,” Carney told journalists in the South Korean city of Gyeongju, adding trade talks would restart when the US is “ready”. Carney also confirmed that he had reviewed the ad with Ford before it aired, but said he had opposed using it. “I told Ford I did not want to go forward with the ad,” he said. The ad, commissioned by Ford, an outspoken Conservative politician who is sometimes compared to Trump, uses a snippet of Republican icon and former president Reagan saying that tariffs cause trade wars and economic disaster. Carney also called talks wit...

United States President Donald Trump ordered the US military on Thursday to immediately resume testing nuclear weapons after a gap of 33 years, minutes before beginning a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Trump made the surprise announcement on Truth Social while he was aboard his Marine One helicopter flying to meet Xi for a trade negotiating session in Busan, South Korea. He said he was instructing the Pentagon to test the US nuclear arsenal on an “equal basis” with other nuclear powers. “Because of other countries’ testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our nuclear weapons on an equal basis. That process will begin immediately,” Trump wrote in a social media post. “Russia is second, and China is a distant third, but will be even within 5 years.” The move comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin said yesterday that Moscow had successfully tested a nuclear-capable underwater drone, in defiance of Washington’s warnings. A senior Russian lawmaker said Trump’s de...

US President Donald Trump said he had struck a deal to reduce tariffs on China on Thursday in exchange for Beijing resuming US soybean purchases, keeping rare earths exports flowing and cracking down on the illicit trade of fentanyl. His remarks after the face-to-face talks with China’s leader Xi Jinping in the South Korean city of Busan, their first since 2019, marked the finale of Trump’s whirlwind Asia trip on which he also touted trade breakthroughs with South Korea, Japan and Southeast Asian nations. The meeting, which took place on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, lasted nearly two hours. Trump shook hands and escorted Xi to his car before the US president was given a red carpet send off at the airport. Speaking to reporters on Air Force One, Trump said the meeting with Xi yielded an extendable one-year deal on the supply of crucial rare earths. “All the rare earths has been settled, and that’s for the world,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, adding that th...

Pakistan and the United States have recently seen an upswing in bilateral relations, particularly after US President Donald Trump mediated a ceasefire between Islamabad and New Delhi following a four-day military escalation in May. Since then, Trump has frequently highlighted his role in averting what he described as a potential nuclear confrontation between the two neighbours. On June 19, President Trump extended an unprecedented invitation to Pakistan’s Army Chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, for a historic luncheon at the White House. The US president has since lauded Munir on several occasions, even referring to him as “my favourite field marshal.” Field Marshal Munir became the first serving Chief of Army Staff to have a face-to-face meeting with a sitting US president after joining the US President. The occasion also marked the first time a serving Pakistani army chief had been formally received at this level, without holding political office or governing under martial law. Previous military rulers — such...

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday once again praised both Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) Field Marshal Asim Munir while reiterating his role in ending a four-day conflict between Pakistan and India in May. Earlier this month, Trump had thanked PM Shehbaz and COAS Munir, his “favourite”, for their efforts in achieving peace in Gaza. He had also called both of them “great people” while offering to mediate between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Today, while addressing a luncheon at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) — which is being hosted in Gyeongju, South Korea this year — Trump talked about both Pakistan and India, as well as the conflict between the countries earlier this year. “I’m doing a trade deal with India and I have great respect and love as you know for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as you know. We have a great relationship,” he said. “Likewise, the prime minister of Pakistan is a great guy, and the Field Marshal — they have a Field Marshal. You know why h...

United States President Donald Trump said on Wednesday “nothing” would jeopardise the ceasefire in Gaza, after Israel carried out air strikes on the Palestinian territory accusing Hamas of violating the truce, which the group denied. Gaza’s civil defence agency said that Israeli attacks had killed at least 50 people, including 22 children, and wounded around 200. “At least 50 killed, including 22 children and a number of women and children, as a result of the ongoing Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip since last night,” Mahmud Bassal, spokesman for the agency, told AFP. Around 200 people were wounded “in a clear and flagrant violation of the ceasefire agreement”, he said, calling the situation in Gaza “catastrophic and terrifying”. Trump defended Israel’s actions on Wednesday, saying it “should hit back” if Israeli soldiers were killed, but added that “nothing’s going to jeopardise” to truce. “They killed an Israeli soldier. So the Israelis hit back. And they should hit back,” Trump told reporters on Air Force...

United States President Donald Trump on Tuesday again stated that seven aircraft were shot down during the brief military escalation between Pakistan and India in May. Addressing a dinner with business leaders during his trip to Japan, Trump claimed that a lot of the wars he stopped were because of his tariffs imposed on multiple countries, stating that he did “a great service to the world”. “If you look at India and Pakistan, they were going at it,” he said. “Seven brand-new, beautiful planes were shot down. “I said to [Indian] Prime Minister Modi and I said to the Prime Minister [Shehbaz Sharif], very nice man, a very good man and the Field Marshal [Asim Munir] over in Pakistan … I said, ‘look we’re not going to do any trade if you’re going to be fighting’,” Trump said. “We said ‘no, we’re not doing any deals if you’re going to fight’ and within 24 hours that was the end of that. It was amazing, actually,” he added. “I think trade is responsible for 70 per cent of the fact that we didn’t have wars.” The May...

United States President Donald Trump on Monday ruled out running for vice president in the 2028 election but declined to definitively say he would not seek a third term, keeping alive speculation about how he might seek to extend his time in office. Trump has repeatedly flirted with the idea of serving beyond the constitutionally mandated two terms, joking about it at rallies and teasing supporters with “Trump 2028” hats. Some allies have taken those signals seriously, suggesting that they are exploring legal or political pathways to make it happen — a possibility dismissed by most constitutional scholars. The 22nd amendment to the US constitution bars anyone from being elected to the presidency a third time. Some supporters have suggested that one way around the prohibition would be for Trump to run as vice president, while another candidate stood for election as president and resigned, letting Trump again assume the presidency. “I’d be allowed to do that,” Trump said today in an exchange with reporters aboa...

Top Chinese and US economic officials on Sunday hashed out the framework of a trade deal for US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping to decide on later this week that would pause steeper American tariffs and Chinese rare earths export controls, US officials said. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the talks on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur had eliminated the threat of Trump’s 100 per cent tariffs on Chinese imports starting November 1. Bessent said he expects China to delay implementation of its rare earth minerals and magnets licensing regime by a year while the policy is reconsidered. Chinese officials were more circumspect about the talks and offered no details about the outcome of the meetings. Trump and Xi are due to meet on Thursday on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Gyeongju, South Korea to sign off on the terms. While the White House has officially announced the highly anticipated Trump-Xi talks, China has yet to conf...

US President Donald Trump hit the ground running on the first leg of his Asian tour on Sunday, announcing a slew of trade agreements in Malaysia. Within six hours of landing in Kuala Lumpur for the summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Trump announced trade deals with four countries, met regional leaders and held talks with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who said their teams would immediately start tariff discussions. Trump also said he was confident of hammering out a deal with Chinese President Xi Jinping ahead of an expected meeting on Thursday, as top trade officials from both sides met for a second day in Kuala Lumpur and agreed on a framework for a trade agreement. Talks to de-escalate trade war On arriving in Malaysia, Trump was greeted by Malaysia’s premier and a troupe of ceremonial dancers, stopping briefly on the red carpet to dance with performers. View this post on Instagram As he mingled with other leaders, US and Chinese negotiators met on the sidelines to avert ...

United States President Donald Trump said on Sunday that he would get the conflict between Pakistan and Afghanistan “solved very quickly”, calling Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and COAS Field Marshal Asim Munir “great people”. Tensions between Islamabad and Kabul flared up earlier this month over accusations of terrorism, as border clashes killed 23 Pakistani troops as well as 200 Taliban and affiliated terrorists after an attack by Kabul, which it claimed was retaliation for Islamabad conducting air strikes in its territory. A first round of talks in Doha last weekend led to a ceasefire agreement, with both governments seeking to firm up the agreement in more talks yesterday. Trump, who was previously involved in brokering a ceasefire between Pakistan and India in May of this year as well as a peace deal between Israel and Gaza’s Hamas, arrived today in Malaysia to attend a summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) in Kuala Lumpur, while also co-signing a ceasefire agreement between Thaila...

United States President Donald Trump co-signed a ceasefire agreement between Thailand and Cambodia in Malaysia during the first stop on his Asia tour, which is expected to culminate in talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. The ceasefire, following a bloody border dispute, was signed by Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, as well as Trump and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. The agreement will see the release of 18 Cambodian prisoners of war, a statement from Cambodia’s foreign ministry said. Clashes between Thailand and Cambodia erupted in July, killing more than 40 people and forcing around 300,000 to flee their homes. While the neighbours agreed an initial ceasefire in late July, they have since traded accusations of violations. In their joint declaration witnessed by Trump, Anutin and Hun Manet reiterated their “firm commitment to refrain from the threat or use of force”. “We reaffirm the unwavering commitment to peace and security between our two countrie...

US President Donald Trump slammed Canada for playing “dirty” on Friday as a row over an advertisement featuring former leader Ronald Reagan that prompted Trump to scrap trade talks showed no sign of abating. The Canadian province of Ontario said it would pull the offending anti-tariff ad on Monday so that negotiations could restart, after Trump alleged that the ad misrepresented the views of fellow Republican Reagan. But Trump showed no sign of backing down, saying Ontario should not have let it air during the first two games this weekend of baseball’s World Series. Adding extra spice to the row, the World Series features a Canadian team, the Toronto Blue Jays, facing a US team, the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Blue Jays thrashed the Dodgers 11-4 in the first game on Friday. “Canada got caught cheating on a commercial, can you believe it?” Trump told reporters before heading on a trip to Asia. “And I heard they were pulling the ad — I didn’t know they were putting it on a little bit more. They could have pulled i...

United States President Donald Trump said on Thursday all trade talks with Canada were terminated following what he called a fraudulent advertisement in which former and late president Ronald Reagan spoke negatively about tariffs. Trump imposed tariffs on Canadian steel, aluminum and autos earlier this year, prompting Ottawa to respond in kind. The two sides have been in talks for weeks on a potential deal for the steel and aluminum sectors. “Based on their egregious behavior, ALL TRADE NEGOTIATIONS WITH CANADA ARE HEREBY TERMINATED,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. Ontario Premier Doug Ford said earlier this week the ad from his province with anti-tariff messaging had caught Trump’s attention. The ad showed Reagan, a Republican, criticising tariffs on foreign goods while saying they caused job losses and trade wars. “I heard that the president heard our ad. I’m sure he wasn’t too happy,” Ford said on Tuesday. The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation issued a statement late on Thursday saying the ad by the gove...

President Donald Trump said Israel would lose its crucial backing from the United States if it annexes the occupied West Bank, in a Time magazine interview published on Thursday. Trump’s comments, which Time said were made by telephone on October 15, were published as both Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned against any annexation. “It won’t happen. It won’t happen because I gave my word to the Arab countries. And you can’t do that now. We’ve had great Arab support,” Trump said when asked what the consequences would be for Israel if it did so. “Israel would lose all of its support from the United States if that happened.” Trump also told Time that he believed Saudi Arabia would join the Abraham Accords, which normalise relations between Israel and Arab states, by the end of the year. “Yes, I do. I do,” he said when asked if he thought Riyadh would join in that timeframe. “See they had a problem. They had a Gaza problem and they had an Iran problem. Now they don’t have those two p...

US President Donald Trump has pardoned convicted Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, a White House official said on Thursday. In a statement, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump had “exercised his constitutional authority by issuing a pardon for Mr. Zhao, who was prosecuted by the Biden Administration in their war on cryptocurrency.“ Binance did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Zhao, one of the most powerful people in the crypto world, had to step down as chief of Binance when the company agreed to a $4.3 billion settlement with the US government to end a years-long probe into misconduct at the world’s largest crypto exchange. Trump’s pardon of Zhao paves the way for the crypto mogul to return to the business he helped found in 2017. He has already served his time in prison after a judge sentenced him to four months. Zhao’s pardon is the latest in a series Trump has doled out to executives convicted of white collar crimes. Earlier in April, he was appointed as a strategic advi...

United States President Donald Trump slapped sanctions on Russia’s two largest oil companies on Wednesday, complaining that his talks with Vladimir Putin to end the Ukraine war “don’t go anywhere”. The European Union also unveiled a fresh wave of sanctions to pressure Russia to end its relentless, three-and-a-half-year invasion of its neighbor, which is allied with both Washington and Brussels. Trump has held off pulling the trigger on sanctions against Russia for months, but his patience snapped after plans for a fresh summit with Putin in Budapest collapsed. “Every time I speak with Vladimir, I have good conversations, and then they don’t go anywhere,” Trump said in response to a question from an AFP journalist in the Oval Office. But Trump added that he hoped the “tremendous sanctions” against Russian oil giants Rosneft and Lukoil would be short-lived. “We hope that the war will be settled,” he said alongside Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday evening tha...

North Korea fired what appeared to be multiple short-range ballistic missiles on Wednesday, South Korea’s military said, a week before a key Asia-Pacific leaders’ meeting in South Korea. It was the first launch of ballistic missiles since May by Pyongyang, which has defied a United Nations Security Council ban on the weapons. It was also the first such launch since Lee Jae Myung was elected president in South Korea, with a platform of engagement with North Korea. Lee and United States President Donald Trump are expected to meet in South Korea next week at a summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum. Trump is also expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping. South Korea detected several projectiles believed to be short-range ballistic missiles fired from an area near North Korea’s capital, Pyongyang, in a northeasterly direction early on Wednesday, its Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement. Trump to visit South Korea Lee and Trump have discussed the idea of trying to meet North Korean ...

US President Donald Trump reiterated on Sunday that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told him India will stop buying Russian oil, while warning that New Delhi would continue paying “massive” tariffs if it did not do so. “I spoke with Prime Minister Modi of India, and he said he’s not going to be doing the Russian oil thing,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. Asked about India’s assertion that it was not aware of any conversation between Modi and Trump, Trump replied: “But if they want to say that, then they’ll just continue to pay massive tariffs, and they don’t want to do that.” Russian oil has been one of the main irritants for Trump in prolonged trade talks with India — half of his 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods are in retaliation for those purchases. The US government has said that petroleum revenue funds Russia’s war in Ukraine. India has become the biggest buyer of seaborne Russian oil sold at a discount after Western nations shunned purchases and imposed sanctions on Moscow for its 202...