US President Donald Trump is not known for holding onto either grudges or admiration for too long. A case in point — his whirlwind relationship with billionaire Elon Musk, which often straddles the invisible "frenemy" line.
His own cabinet in the second term includes many who were once his rivals, be it Secretary of State Marco Rubio or National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard.
Thus, it came as no surprise when Trump professed "love" for Pakistan on Wednesday ahead of his meeting with the country's army chief, Gen Asim Munir. Pakistan is the same country that Trump ripped to shreds during his first term in 2018 when he called out Islamabad for its "lies and deceit" on fighting terror.
“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. They give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more!” Trump had said in his first X post of 2018.
US-based South Asia analyst Michael Kugelman pointed this out when Trump met Munir for lunch, moments after again claiming credit for brokering ceasefire between India and Pakistan.
"With the Trump-Munir lunch meeting about to happen, safe to say we’ve come a long way from the 'you’ve given us nothing but lies and deceit' tweet," Kugelman said, referring to the US President's 2018 remarks.
Trump's approach to countries like Pakistan is consistent with his broader—and rather unpredictable—foreign policy thinking which prioritises near-term objectives over long-term strategic goals.
In the India-Pakistan conflict, the US President had to pick between two sides that are vital to different aspects of American interests. He chose to walk a tightrope.
In India, US sees a long-term strategic partner, one that can help counter Chinese influence in the Indo-Pacific region and become a fundamental defence ally. Pakistan is more of a near-term expendable partner that Trump is using for immediate tactical benefits.
In an article titled "Trump doesn’t have a foreign policy", US website Vox said that Trump does not do systematic foreign policy, but rather acts on the basis of a collection of impulses.
"Those gut instincts include a sense that the United States should look out for itself only, ignore any rules or norms that might constrain it, use force aggressively without regard to civilian casualties, and seek 'deals' with other states that advantage the United States and/or make Donald Trump look good personally," the article said, summing up why Trump does what he does.
If you look at Trump's newfound love for Pakistan through this lens, things become much clear.
For one, Asim Munir has endorsed Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize after the US President's hollow claims that he stopped the war between the two nuclear-armed neighbours. This checks out the part about making Trump "look good" in the world.
The other strategic reasons behind a Trump-Munir bonhomie could be the ongoing war between Israel and Iran, where Islamabad can serve as a strategic interlocutor due to its proximity to Tehran.
"They (Pakistani leadership) know Iran very well, better than most. They're not happy about anything. It's not that they're bad with Israel. They know them both actually, but they probably, maybe, they know Iran better, but they see what's going on and he agreed with me," the US President told reporters after the meeting.
Moreover, the meeting will also help Trump administration offset the growing Chinese military and economy influence in Pakistan.
Pakistan-based Dawn quoted sources as saying that Islamabad secured a meeting between Trump and Munir due to the deepening counter-terrorism cooperation and engagement with crypto-linked influence networks.
Kugelman had said on X that the meeting serves other strategic objectives beyond the Iran-Israel war. "Trump-Munir meet shouldn’t only be seen through the lens of the Israel-Iran war. There’s been US-Pak engagement on critical minerals, crypto, CT. Trump takes a deep personal interest in all of these. And Munir is empowered to talk about it all." This checks out the part about Trump seeking deals with countries to American advantage.
And the expedient relationship flows both ways.
An article in The Times of India said that Pakistan's intelligence agency, ISI, has strategically handed over high-profile terrorists to US — not as part of a consistent counter-terrorism effort, but to curry favour with Washington when convenient.
The report cited the recent arrest of ISIS-K operative Sharifullah, credited by Donald Trump to Pakistan, as the latest example. Intelligence sources revealed that he had been in ISI custody for over a year.
Other past episodes include the handovers of Mullah Baradar, Osama bin Laden’s aide Abu Zubaydah, and Bali bombing suspect Umar Patek — all timed to serve Pakistan’s diplomatic interests.
Similarly, Pakistan has been using cryptocurrency as another tool to attract his attention. A deal signed in Pakistan just days before the Pahalgam terror attack and India’s Operation Sindoor drew scrutiny due to its links to Trump’s family and Asim Munir.
The agreement, between Pakistan’s newly formed Crypto Council and US-based World Liberty Financial, involves several high-profile figures such as Trump's sons Eric and Donald Junior.
It did not come as a surprise then that Trump and Munir held discussions on cryptocurrency during their lunch meeting on Wednesday.
In an earlier article, Newslaundry noted that under Trump, US-Pakistan relations were likely to face familiar turbulence as in the past. "Historically marked by oscillations between strategic cooperation and mutual distrust, US-Pakistan relations are likely to face further turbulence given Trump's transactional approach to foreign policy, which tends to prioritise short-term agreements over long-term strategic interests," it said.
So while Pakistan may jump through hoops to secure a date with Trump in its efforts improve optics and suggest that it's on the right of Washington, one cannot overlook the bitter reality underpinning the transactional nature of these meetings.
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