Trump praise draws Pakistan closer as U.S.-Iran strikes roil region

U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran have set off a crippling energy crisis and sparked deadly protests in Pakistan, even as Islamabad’s public courtship of President Donald Trump pulls the country closer to Washington and risks entangling it in a widening confrontation with Tehran. Senior Pakistani leaders have lauded Trump’s role, and the president has repeatedly reciprocated, including a string of public endorsements that have reached at least 10 instances since June this year praising Field Marshal Asim Munir, Pakistan’s army chief.

Two months into his second term, in March, Trump addressed a joint session of Congress and singled out Pakistan for assistance in the investigation of the Abbey Gate bombing at Kabul airport in August 2021, saying, “I want to thank especially the government of Pakistan for helping arrest this monster.” On another occasion he told supporters, “The head of Pakistan and a highly respected general, he is a field marshal, and also the prime minister of Pakistan said that President Trump saved 10 million lives, maybe more.”

Islamabad has signaled willingness to deepen cooperation beyond rhetoric. Officials have expressed readiness to participate in a U.S.-led international stabilisation force proposed to oversee Gaza security, and Pakistani leaders have leveraged diplomatic openings since a bilateral reset that began during Imran Khan’s July 2019 visit to Washington. The relationship has not been purely symbolic: the United States provided $8 million to Pakistan for coronavirus response and received personal protective equipment donations in return.

Analysts say the courtship reflects practical calculations on both sides. Washington gains potential access to critical mineral routes and a revived counterterrorism channel while reminding New Delhi that it has options. But the tilt carries political costs: it risks deepening Pakistan’s military-dominated political economy, could ignite new conflicts in resource-rich regions such as Balochistan if benefit-sharing fails, and threatens to squander hard-won trust with New Delhi at a time when India is a central partner against an ascendant China.

“Munir moved quickly to capitalise on both, leveraging events, including the conflict with India, the fighting between Israel and Iran in June, and efforts to bring the Gaza war to a close, to engage the highest levels of the Trump administration, while simultaneously consolidating political control at home,” Humayun said. Qamar Cheema, executive director of the Islamabad-based Sanober Institute, described recent exchanges with Washington as “a signal of the US’s shifting approach towards Pakistan.”

The relationship is also heir to a history of friction. In 2018, Trump complained that the United States had “foolishly” handed Pakistan more than $33 billion in aid over 15 years and accused Islamabad of returning “nothing but lies and deceit,” at one point suspending security assistance over allegations including sheltering terrorist elements. The more flattering, transactional diplomacy of the current era marks a clear reversal from those earlier confrontations.

For Islamabad, the calculus is immediate: public praise from the U.S. president buys domestic legitimacy and geopolitical leverage. For Washington, the gains are strategic but narrow. The most prudent path, analysts argue, is to treat Pakistan as a limited partner: extract concrete security and supply-chain commitments while preserving channels to New Delhi and avoiding policy choices that deepen regional fault lines.

If that balance fails, Pakistan risks being pulled physically and politically deeper into a U.S.-Iran confrontation whose shocks are already echoing across energy markets and city streets.