WASHINGTON President Donald Trump on Sunday defended his administration’s decision to stop hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid to Pakistan, saying the country does not do “a damn thing” for the US and its government had helped Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden hide near its garrison city.
Referring to Laden and his former compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, Donald Trump in an interview to Fox News said, “You know, living – think of this – living in Pakistan, beautifully in Pakistan in what I guess they considered a nice mansion, I don’t know, I’ve seen nicer.”
The compound was demolished shortly after US Naval Special Warfare Development Group forces, in a daring helicopter raid, killed Laden there in 2011.
“But living in Pakistan right next to the military academy, everybody in Pakistan knew he was there,” he added.
“And we give Pakistan USD 1.3 billion a year. … (Laden] lived in Pakistan, we’re supporting Pakistan, we’re giving them USD 1.3 billion a year — which we don’t give them anymore, by the way, I ended it because they don’t do anything for us, they don’t do a damn thing for us,” he said.
The ties between the two countries strained after Trump, while announcing his Afghanistan and South Asia policy in August last year, hit out at Pakistan for providing safe havens to “agents of chaos” that kill Americans in Afghanistan and warned Islamabad that it has “much to lose” by harbouring terrorists.
In September, the Trump administration cancelled USD 300 million in military aid to Islamabad for not doing enough against terror groups active on its soil.
Trump also said that he has plans to visit Iraq and Afghanistan to meet American troops stationed there.
“Well, I think you will see that happen. There are things that are being planned. We don’t want to talk about it because of — obviously because of security reasons and everything else,” he said.
Trump has been criticized by his political opponents for not visiting either Afghanistan or Iraq in the first two years of his presidency.
Trump doesnt want to hear suffering Khashoggis murder tape
US President Donald Trump says he has been fully briefed on an audio recording of journalist Jamal Khashoggis murder but does not want to listen to it himself.
Because its a suffering tape. Its a terrible tape, he said in an interview with Fox News Sunday. It was very violent, very vicious and terrible.
The CIA has reportedly concluded that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered Khashoggis assassination in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct 2.
But the State Department has called those reports inaccurate, and Trump on Saturday told reporters that the US would release a very full report on the matter as early as Monday. He was interviewed by Fox on Friday.
Asked whether the crown prince had lied to him in denying any role in the killing, Trump said: I dont know. Who can really know? But I can say this, hes got many people … that say he had no knowledge.
He told me that he had nothing to do with it. He told me that, I would say, maybe five times at different points, as recently as a few days ago.
Trump acknowledged that people close to the prince were probably involved but added, I want to stick with an ally that in many ways has been very good.
Asked whether he would go along with moves in the US Congress to cut off US involvement in the Saudi-led war in Yemen or halt arms sales to the kingdom, Trump equivocated. I want to see Yemen end. It takes two to tango and Iran has to end also, he said. I want Saudi to stop but I want Iran to stop also.
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