Pakistan's Trump ties face scrutiny as Democrats win — SkimNews
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- Pakistan prepared for congressional scrutiny of its White House access after the Democrats won Tuesday’s congressional vote, with analysts warning that the Trump-centered relationship had produced no clear economic payoff.
- Sajjad Ali said meaningful negotiations with the Trump administration were not possible and that the bloodshed would not end until Washington changed; Asim Zafar hoped a Democratic shift would rein in Trump and change U.S. policy toward Muslim countries.
- Asim Munir served as Islamabad’s main channel to Trump during the courtship, including at a June 2025 lunch held without Pakistani civilian officials; their talks extended beyond security to mining, energy and cryptocurrency.
- Pakistan joined Trump’s Board of Peace and nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize after crediting him with helping end the May 2025 conflict with India, and hosted April U.S.-Iran talks; New Delhi denied U.S. mediation had halted hostilities, and the eventual Islamabad Agreement quickly faltered.
- US Export-Import Bank approved $1.25 billion for Pakistan’s Reko Diq copper and gold project in December 2025, while Islamabad’s request for a $10 billion U.S. Treasury facility remained unanswered.
- Pakistan signed memoranda to explore USD1 stablecoin payments with Trump-linked World Liberty Financial and redevelop Manhattan’s Roosevelt Hotel, and placed a limited drone order with Powerus, whose investors include Trump’s sons Donald Jr. and Eric.
- Michael Kugelman said Pakistan’s counterterrorism cooperation and Iran diplomacy enjoyed bipartisan support and that Democrats would be more likely to blame problematic Trump-era deals on Trump than on Pakistan; he warned the country had put its diplomatic eggs in the White House basket.
Why it matters: Pakistan’s government tied White House access to Trump and arrangements involving his relatives and associates, yet its $10 billion Treasury request remains unanswered. Democratic scrutiny therefore reaches a relationship that delivered $1.25 billion for Reko Diq but offered households little protection from war-inflated oil prices.
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