Trump | Pakistan

Saudi Arabia on Tuesday promised billions of dollars in deals with the United States, from defence to artificial intelligence, as it threw a lavish welcome for President Donald Trump on the first state visit of his second term. The Saudis escorted Air Force One into the kingdom with fighter jets before bringing out long-stretching guards of honour and sending flag-waving cavalry to accompany Trump’s motorcade to the palace. Under imposing chandeliers, Trump welcomed a promise by Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, for $600 billion in investment and quipped that it should be $1 trillion. “We have the biggest business leaders in the world here today, and they’re going to walk away with a lot of cheques,” Trump told the prince. For “the United States, it’s probably two million jobs that we’re talking about”, Trump said. The White House said that Saudi Arabia would buy nearly $142bn in weapons in what it described as the largest-ever weapons deal, although Trump in his first term trum...

• Offers trade boost if both nations continue to engage in dialogue • Modi warns New Delhi will not tolerate ‘nuclear blackmail’ • Khawaja Asif says future talks to focus on Kashmir, terrorism and water • Asserts any attempt to deprive Pakistan of its water rights will never be allowed WASHINGTON: Amid easing tensions following a ceasefire bet­ween India and Pakistan, Presi­dent Donald Trump has claimed that US intervention prevented a “bad nuclear war” between the two nations, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a televised address to the nation asserted that New Delhi would not tolerate “nuclear blackmail” in the event of further conflict with Islamabad. Trump’s comments, made during a press interaction at the White House, signal a rare moment of US diplomatic mediation bet­ween the two South Asian nuclear powers and suggest a broader Ameri­can strategy that ties peace to economic engagement. “We stopped a nuclear conflict. I think it could have been a bad nuclear war. Millions of people could have been k...

Israeli officials have put a brave face on President Donald Trump bypassing them on a Middle East trip this week, but his decision to do so is the latest to sow doubt in Israel about where the United States stands in Washington’s priorities. On Sunday, a few days after announcing plans for an expanded military operation in Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said it had been informed by the US of an agreement to release American-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander, after talks between Washington and Hamas that did not include Israel. Trump, who will be visiting Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, also caused consternation in Israel last week by abruptly announcing the US would stop bombing Houthis in Yemen, days after a Houthi missile hit near Israel’s main airport. “The message to the region was clear: Israel is no longer a top US priority,” wrote Itamar Eichner, diplomatic correspondent for Israeli news outlets Ynet, echoing media commentators across the political spectrum. One Israeli...

Trump crafting path ahead on Kashmir issue could be ‘huge legacy’ for him: Sherry RehmanPPP Senator Sherry Rehman has said that if US President Donald Trump manages to solve the Kashmir dispute, it would be a “huge legacy” for him.

Talks between top US and Chinese officials resumed for a second day on Sunday, after US President Donald Trump voiced optimism over the negotiations aimed at de-escalating trade tensions sparked by his aggressive tariff rollout. In a Truth Social post following the first day of talks in Geneva on Saturday, Trump praised the “very good” discussions and deemed them “a total reset negotiated in a friendly, but constructive, manner”. Earlier, the Chinese state news agency Xinhua also described the talks in Switzerland as “an important step in promoting the resolution of the issue”. The second day of closed-door meetings between US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng resumed shortly after 10am (1pm PKT) on Sunday. As of Saturday, the talks were taking place at the residence of the Swiss ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, a discrete villa with sky-blue shutters near a large park on the left bank of Lake Geneva. “These talks reflect that t...

In a breakthrough moment amid military escalation between India and Pakistan, both nations have agreed to a ceasefire pushed by United States President Donald Trump, with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and politicians hailing the move. The intense military exchange began in the early hours of Saturday after India attacked Pakistani airbases. Soon afterwards, Pakistan launched its retaliatory operation, Bunyan-um-Marsoos, which came to an end on Saturday afternoon when both nations agreed to a full ceasefire, effective 4:30 PKT. The ceasefire was announced by US President Trump in a post on his social media platform Truth Social. “After a long night of talks mediated by the United States, I am pleased to announce that India and Pakistan have agreed to a full and immediate ceasefire,” Trump wrote, congratulating both nations and praising them for “using common sense and great intelligence”. Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar took to X to announce the ceasefire “with immediate effect” at 5:08pm, writing “Pakistan has alw...

U.S. President Donald Trump had a “very good and productive” call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Thursday, the White House said, adding that Trump hopes both Ukraine and Russia will agree next week to a proposed 30-day ceasefire. White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt, speaking to reporters at a White House briefing on Friday, also […]

United States President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday announced a “breakthrough deal” on trade that leaves in place a 10 per cent tariff on goods imported from the UK, while Britain agreed to lower its tariffs to 1.8pc from 5.1pc and provide greater access to US goods. The agreement announced by Trump from the Oval Office marked the first since Trump triggered a global trade war with a barrage of levies on trading partners following his return to the White House in January. “It opens up a tremendous market for us,” Trump said. “This is a really fantastic, historic day,” Starmer said by teleconference. The United States has been under pressure from investors to strike deals to de-escalate its tariff war after Trump’s often chaotic policymaking upended global trade with friend and foe alike, threatening to stoke inflation and start a recession. Top US officials have engaged in a flurry of meetings with trading partners since the president on April 2 imposed a 10pc tariff on mo...

US President Donald Trump called Wednesday for India and Pakistan to immediately halt their fighting, and offered to help end the worst escalation between the nuclear-armed countries in two decades. “It’s so terrible,” Trump said at the White House. “I get along with both, I know both very well, and I want to see them […]

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Saturday that she had rejected an offer from United States President Donald Trump to send American troops to Mexico to help combat drug trafficking. “I told him, ‘No, President Trump, our territory is inviolable, our sovereignty is inviolable, our sovereignty is not for sale,’” she said at a public event, referring to a recent report in The Wall Street Journal that described a tense exchange between the leaders. During the recent call, Sheinbaum said, Trump had asked how he could help fight organised crime and suggested sending troops. She said she declined, telling him that “we will never accept the presence of the United States Army in our territory”. Sheinbaum said she offered to collaborate, including through greater information-sharing. Trump himself said in an interview last week with conservative outlet The Blaze that he had offered to help Mexico fight the drug cartels, but that he had been turned down. Without providing details, Trump told his interviewer: ...

United States President Donald Trump said in a television interview airing on Sunday that he does not know whether he must uphold the US Constitution. He also said he is not seriously considering running for a third White House term, after musing publicly over an idea clearly barred by the nation’s founding legal document. “I don’t know,” Trump responded when the host of NBC News programme ‘Meet the Press’, Kristen Welker, asked directly whether he believes he needs to uphold the supreme law of the land. Asked specifically whether American citizens and non-citizens alike deserve the due process of law, as the US Constitution states, Trump said: “I’m not a lawyer. I don’t know.” The president’s aggressive moves to deport undocumented migrants — some without the benefit of a court hearing — have drawn widespread criticism, but Trump insists it is necessary in the face of what he has declared to be a “national emergency”. The suggestion of possibly seeking a third term in office has been sharply questioned by le...

United States President Donald Trump’s administration exceeded the scope of an 18th-century wartime law in using it to deport some Venezuelan migrants, a federal judge in Texas said on Thursday in barring the administration from using it to speed up deportations. In a 36-page opinion, US District Judge Fernando Rodriguez ruled that the Trump administration could not rely on the Alien Enemies Act to detain and deport alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua because the gang’s presence in the United States was not an “invasion” or “predatory incursion” as contemplated by the law. “The historical record renders clear that the President’s invocation of the AEA through the Proclamation exceeds the scope of the statute and is contrary to the plain, ordinary meaning of the statute’s terms,” wrote Rodriguez, who Trump appointed during his first term. Neither the Justice Department nor the White House immediately responded to requests for comment. Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act to speed up the deport...

Prime Minister Mark Carney won Canada’s election on Monday, local media projected, leading his Liberal Party to a new term in power after convincing voters his experience managing economic crises prepared him to confront United States President Donald Trump. The public broadcaster CBC and other outlets projected the Liberals would form Canada’s next government, but it was not yet clear if they would hold a majority in parliament. Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre fell short of becoming prime minister, but his party was on track to form a strong opposition in parliament Trump’s trade war and threats to annex Canada — which he renewed in an election day social media post — outraged Canadians and made dealing with the US a top campaign issue. Carney, who had never held elected office and only replaced Justin Trudeau as prime minister last month, anchored his campaign on an anti-Trump message. He previously served as central bank governor in both Britain and Canada and persuaded voters his global financial exp...