Trump | Pakistan

US President Donald Trump confirmed on Wednesday that he authorised the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to conduct covert operations in Venezuela, marking a sharp escalation in US efforts to pressure President Nicolas Maduro’s government. The New York Times first reported the classified directive, citing US officials familiar with the decision, saying the Trump administration’s Venezuela strategy aims to remove Maduro from power. The administration has offered $50 million for information leading to Maduro’s arrest and conviction on drug trafficking charges. The new authority would allow the CIA to carry out lethal operations in Venezuela and conduct a range of operations in the Caribbean, the Times reported. Asked why he authorised the CIA to operate in Venezuela, Trump told reporters his reasons were migration of Venezuelans to the United States and drug trafficking. “I authorised for two reasons really,” Trump said. “Number one, they have emptied their prisons into the United States of America…they came i...

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday reiterated his praise for United States President Donald Trump, stating that Pakistan would continue to “express admiration” for the American leader’s “unique contribution” to peace. The statement comes a day after Trump and the leaders of Egypt, Qatar and Turkiye had signed a declaration meant to cement a ceasefire in Gaza, hours after Israel and Hamas exchanged hostages and prisoners. PM Shehbaz had also attended the ceremony held at the Egyptian beach resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. At a later press conference, the US president had especially mentioned the premier and the army chief. In a post on X, the premier said: “As I board the plane to return home after the Gaza peace summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, I want to share some reflections on the potentially transformational nature of what took place and why Pakistan has been so deeply involved.” He stated that Pakistan’s biggest priority was the “immediate cessation of the genocidal campaign imposed on Gaza”, which he said he ...

Iran on Tuesday denounced “baseless claims” made by United States President Donald Trump, calling Washington “the largest sponsor of terrorism”. Addressing Israel’s Knesset on Monday ahead of joining an international peace summit in Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh, Trump said that Iran wants to reach a peace deal with the US “even if they said, ‘We don’t want to make a deal,’”. In a statement carried by the state news agency IRNA, the foreign ministry said: “The US, as the world’s largest generator of terrorism and supporter of the terrorist and genocidal Zionist (Israeli) regime, has no moral authority to level accusations against others.” “The repetition of false claims regarding Iran’s peaceful nuclear programme can in no way justify the joint crimes of the US and the Zionist regime” in violating Iran’s soil, the ministry said. Israel launched a surprise attack on Tehran on June 13, targeting military, nuclear, and civilian sites as well as senior military commanders and nuclear scientists. Tehran launched retalia...

United States President Donald Trump especially thanked Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and “my favourite” Field Marshal Asim Munir on Monday for their efforts in achieving peace in Gaza, among many other world leaders. Trump was addressing a ceremony following the signing of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas at the Sharm el-Sheikh Peace Summit in Egypt. He also invited PM Shehbaz to deliver a special address at the ceremony. Taking the podium, PM Shehbaz thanked Trump and the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi for their efforts in securing the peace deal. “Today is one of the greatest days in contemporary history because peace has been achieved after untiring efforts led by President Trump, who is genuinely a man of peace [and] who has relentlessly and untiringly worked throughout these months, day in and day out, to make this world a place to live with peace and prosperity.” ’’I would say that Pakistan had nominated President Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize for his outstanding and extraordin...

United States President Donald Trump told the Israeli parliament on Monday that the ceasefire he helped broker in the Gaza conflict had ushered in the “historic dawn of a new Middle East”. “And after so many years of unceasing war and endless danger, today the skies are calm, the guns are silent, the sirens are still, and the sun rises on a holy land that is finally at peace, a land and a region that will live, God willing, in peace for all eternity,” he said. “This is not only the end of a war … This is the historic dawn of a new Middle East.“ Trump’s lightning visit to Israel came ahead of a summit in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh co-chaired by the American president, who has declared the conflict in Gaza “over”. Under the ceasefire deal, Israel is due to release nearly 2,000 Palestinians held in its jails. Addressing the Israeli parliament, Trump called the agreement that brought about a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of the captives held by Hamas a triumph as he thanked mediators from the...

• Emergency crew restore power to many parts of Ukraine after attack on grid • US, UK, and Nato conduct air patrol along Russia’s border KYIV: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged US President Donald Trump on Saturday to use the diplomatic success he achieved in the Middle East as a model to end the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, saying that if Trump could stop one war, “others can be stopped as well.” The appeal came during a phone call between the two leaders, just a day after Moscow launched what Ukrainian officials described as a large-scale attack targeting critical energy facilities across 10 regions, including the capital Kyiv. “If a war can be stopped in one region, then surely other wars can be stopped as well, including the Russian war,” Zelen­sky wrote on Facebook, describing what he characterised as a “very positive and productive” conversation with Trump. The timing of the appeal underscores Ukraine’s growing concern that its nearly three-year conflict with Russia has slipped down the inter...

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he spoke to United States President Donald Trump on Thursday, adding that they “reviewed good progress achieved in trade negotiations” and agreed to stay in close touch over the coming weeks. Indian commerce ministry officials have said that after the latest meetings of trade officials in Washington, another round of trade negotiations is expected soon in either country. Trump imposed a 50 per cent tariff on most exports from India, among the highest for any US trading partner. The move impacts about $50 billion of Indian exports to the US, mainly hurting labour-intensive sectors such as textiles, gems and jewellery and the shrimp industry. The tariffs were doubled on Indian goods from 25pc due to New Delhi’s continued imports of Russian oil. Washington earlier said India’s purchase of Russian oil helped fund Moscow’s war in Ukraine and that New Delhi also profits from it. India had rejected the accusation as a double standard, pointing to US and European trade links w...

The eight Muslim countries that worked with US President Donald Trump’s administration on a plan to end Israel’s genocide and invasion in Gaza have welcomed the “steps taken by Hamas” in this connection, the Foreign Office said on Sunday. On Friday, Hamas said it would agree to some of the terms in Trump’s plan — which was announced on Monday after a meeting between the US president and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — and seek further negotiations. While the Trump administration worked with eight Muslim countries last month to bring the Israeli invasion of Gaza to an end, reservations have been expressed from that latter’s side that the plan unveiled by the White House was not the one originally agreed upon. Nevertheless, they see Hamas’s partial agreement to the plan as an opportunity for a ceasefire in Gaza after an onslaught of around two years. “The Foreign Ministers of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, the Republic of Indonesia, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the R...

US President Donald Trump authorised the deployment of troops to Chicago after a federal agent shot an allegedly armed motorist there on Saturday. At the same time, a judge blocked the Republican leader’s attempt to send the military into Portland, another Democratic-run city. The escalating crisis across the country pits Trump’s increasingly militarised anti-crime and migration crackdown against opposition Democrats who accuse him of an authoritarian power grab. White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in a statement that “President Trump has authorised 300 national guardsmen to protect federal officers and assets” in Chicago. This comes after weeks of Republican threats to send troops to the Midwestern city over the wishes of local leaders. “President Trump will not turn a blind eye to the lawlessness plaguing American cities.” Illinois Senator Dick Durbin called the move a “shameful chapter in our nation’s history”, adding that the “president is not intent on fighting crime. He is intent on spreading f...

Pope Leo urged the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics on Sunday to care for immigrants, pressing ahead with a message of welcome for migrants days after criticising US President Donald Trump’s hard-line anti-immigration policies. Leo, the first US pope, told thousands of pilgrims celebrating Mass in St. Peter’s Square that immigrants should not be treated with “the coldness of indifference or the stigma of discrimination”. The pope, who did not single out any country for its treatment of migrants, called on Catholics to “open our arms and hearts to them, welcoming them as brothers and sisters, and being for them a presence of consolation and hope.” Pope talks of ‘new missionary age’ Leo had criticised the Trump administration’s immigration policies on September 30, questioning whether they were in line with the Catholic Church’s pro-life teachings, in comments that drew heated backlash from some prominent conservative Catholics. On Sunday, the pope said the global Church was experiencing “a new missionary age” in ...

A coalition of unions, employers and religious groups filed a lawsuit on Friday seeking to block US President Donald Trump’s bid to impose a $100,000 fee on new H-1B visas for highly-skilled foreign workers. The lawsuit filed in federal court in San Francisco is the first to challenge a proclamation Trump issued two weeks ago announcing the fee as the Republican president moves to further restrict immigration to the United States. Plaintiffs include the United Auto Workers union, the American Association of University Professors, a nurse recruitment agency and several religious organisations. They argued that Trump’s power to restrict the entry of certain foreign nationals does not allow him to override the law that created the H-1B visa programme. White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson in a statement said Trump’s administration engaged in lawful actions “discouraging companies from spamming the system and driving down American wages, while providing certainty to employers who need to bring the best talent f...

US President Donald Trump said early Saturday Israel must stop bombing Gaza immediately and that he believes Hamas is ready for peace after an earlier statement by the Palestinian resistance group. Hamas said it would agree to some of the terms in Trump’s plan to end the Gaza war, including releasing hostages, but avoided addressing more vexing issues like disarmament and said it would seek further negotiations. Soon after, Trump posted Hamas’ response to his Truth Social account. Trump had earlier not specified whether the terms would be subject to negotiation, as Hamas is seeking. Notably, the resistance group did not say if it would agree to disarm and demilitarise Gaza — something Israel and the US want but Hamas has rejected before. It also did not agree to an Israeli withdrawal in stages, as opposed to the immediate, full withdrawal the group demands. A senior Hamas official told Al Jazeera that the group would not disarm before Israel’s occupation of the besieged enclave ends, comments that underscored...

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said on Friday that the 20-point Gaza peace plan released by US President Donald Trump was “not ours” but insisted that there was no room for politicking on the matter. Speaking on the floor of the National Assembly, Dar referred to his earlier press briefing in Islamabad and said: “I made it clear that the 20 points that President Trump made public are not ours. Changes were made to our draft. I have the record.” However, he went on to say: “This is the end result, and there is no room for politicking.” Eight Muslim and Arab countries — Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Pakistan, Türkiye, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Egypt — had held a meeting with Trump on the sidelines of the 80th United Nations General Assembly session, where the US president discussed his plan for ending the Israeli onslaught in Gaza. On Sept 29, US President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had met and, in a press conference after the meeting, announced the forme...

• Plan announced by White House differs from terms agreed between Trump and heads of Muslim countries • Distrust remains over proposed International Stabilisation Force • Hamas seeks changes to ‘disarmament’ clause DESPITE their misgivings with the ‘pro-Israel’ draft of US President Donald Trump’s plan to bring peace to war-ravaged Gaza, countries from the eight-member Muslim bloc may yet push for it to be accepted. Officials from Qatar and Pakis­tan have already implied — albeit diplomatically — that the plan announced by the White House was quite different from the one they signed up to in New York. But some countries — especially those in Gaza’s immediate neighbourhood — also believe they have secured key concessions, such as Trump’s refusal to recognise Israeli annexation of the West Bank and a US commitment that Palestinians will be allowed to remain in Gaza. Israel has also agreed, under the plan, not to permanently occupy the Gaza Strip. “Gaza’s reconstruction represents a major economic opportunity fo...

US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday unveiled a 20-point plan for Gaza. Subsequently, eight Arab or Muslim-majority nations — Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Pakistan, Türkiye, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Egypt — “welcomed the role of the American president and his sincere efforts aimed at ending the war in Gaza”. In Pakistan, the government’s so-called approval of the plan had drawn flak from politicians, journalists and activists alike, who termed the deal a “two-state surrender’’ with the scales weighing heavily in Israel’s favour. Subsequently, signs began appearing that not everyone was happy with the draft made public by the White House. On Tuesday, Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar seemingly distanced Pakistani decision-makers from the plan. He also made it clear in so many words that the US peace plan for Gaza would not be acceptable if the am­e­ndments — jointly pro­posed by eight Muslim co­u­n­tries — were not included. This came after Trump had previously...

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed on Sunday the hope for “encouraging” outcomes of US President Donald Trump’s meeting with Muslim leaders in Washington earlier this week where the American head of the state presented his plan to end Israel’s invasion of Gaza. “We fully participated in the meeting on Gaza, and God willing, its encouraging results will come out soon,” he said, flanked by Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar while addressing overseas Pakistanis at the High Commission in London. According to state broadcaster Radio Pakistan, he also said that Pakistan was also part of Trump-led efforts to bring peace to Palestine and end oppression against the people of Gaza. The premier also expressed distress over the situation in Gaza, which has been subjected to Israeli onslaught since October 2023, and prayed that the cruelty and barbarity being witnessed there ends soon. Trump’s meeting with Muslim leaders on the sidelines of the 80th United Nations General Assembly in New York had brought together leaders fro...

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday declaring that his plan to sell Chinese-owned TikTok’s US operations to US and global investors will address the national security requirements in a 2024 law. The new US company will be valued at around $14 billion, Vice President JD Vance said, putting a price tag on the popular short video app far below some analyst estimates. Trump on Thursday delayed until January 20 enforcement of the law that bans the app unless its Chinese owners sell it amid efforts to extract TikTok’s US assets from the global platform, line up American and other investors, and win approval from the Chinese government. The publication of the executive order shows Trump is making progress on the sale of TikTok’s US assets, but numerous details need to be fleshed out, including how the US entity would use TikTok’s most important asset, its recommendation algorithm. “There was some resistance on the Chinese side, but the fundamental thing that we wanted to accomplish is that w...

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and US President Donald Trump discussed regional security and cooperation along the lines of counter-terrorism, among other matters, as the two met for the first time at the Oval Office in Washington in the early hours of Friday morning, according to a press release from the PM Office. The premier was accompanied by the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Field Marshal Asim Munir, while the US President was joined by US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, as per an earlier statement from the PM office. PM Shehbaz thanked Trump for “his public endorsement of Pakistan’s role in counterterrorism and stressed the need to further enhance cooperation in security and intelligence,” as the two discussed matters of regional security. The premier described Trump as a “man of peace”, lauding his “sincere” efforts in ending conflicts around the world. PM Shehbaz branded Trump’s style of leadership “bold, courageous and decisive,” and thanked the US president for his role in me...

US President Donald Trump hosted Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Field Marshal Asim Munir at the Oval Office in Washington, DC during the early hours of Friday morning. US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio were also present, a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) after the meeting said. It added that the meeting was held in a pleasant atmosphere. Photos released after the meeting showed both PM Shehbaz and Field Marshal Munir exchanging views with Trump. Trump was also all smiles as he flashed his signature thumbs up sign during a group photo. The meeting, which was closed to the press, was originally slated to begin at 4:30pm Washington time (1:30am PST) but was delayed by approximately 30 minutes as the US president spoke to reporters after signing executive orders. The meeting itself lasted approximately one hour and 20 minutes. Photos from the White House press pool before it began showed PM Shehbaz and Field Marshal Munir waiting pati...

United States President Donald Trump on Thursday urged Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan to stop buying Russian oil over the war in Ukraine, as Erdogan sought a long-awaited deal to buy US stealth fighter jets. As Erdogan visited the White House for the first time since 2019 during Trump’s first term, Trump called on him to use his influence with Russian President Vladimir Putin to end Moscow’s invasion. Trump said that he would discuss Ankara’s wish to buy high-tech F-35 aircraft and was ready to end sanctions on Turkey over its purchase of Russian air defence missiles. Nato ally Turkey was booted out of the flagship US stealth fighter programme during Trump’s first term after it defiantly bought Russia’s S-400 surface-to-air missile system. “I’d like to have him stop buying any oil from Russia while Russia continues this rampage,” Trump told reporters alongside Erdogan in the Oval Office. Trump said Erdogan was “very respected” by both Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and “could have ...