President Donald Trump said Saturday he has decided against sending a U.S. delegation to Islamabad to negotiate with Pakistani officials and that Iran can “call” the U.S. if it wants to engage in talks to end the war.
“I just cancelled the trip of my representatives going is Islamabad, Pakistan, to meet with the Iranians. Too much time wasted on traveling, too much work!” Trump said on Truth Social.
“Besides which, there is tremendous infighting and confusion within their ‘leadership.’ Nobody knows who is in charge, including them,” he added, repeating a claim that experts on Iran have refuted. “Also, we have all the cards, they have none! If they want to talk, all they have to do is call!!!”
The cancellation of the trip cast further doubts over an already uncertain situation.
Steve Witkoff, a U.S. special envoy, and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, were set to travel to Pakistan’s capital for negotiations on Saturday. Iranian state media reported that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had left Pakistan earlier that day after discussions with the country’s leaders, who have been mediating talks between Iran and the U.S.
Iran has said that it would not engage directly with American officials in negotiations, and its leaders have accused the U.S. of violating the tenuous ceasefire by maintaining its blockade on Iranian ports.
Shortly after Trump announced that Witkoff and Kushner would no longer travel to Islamabad, Araghchi said in a post on X that his meeting with Pakistani officials was “very fruitful.”
“Shared Iran’s position concerning workable framework to permanently end the war on Iran,” Araghchi said. “Have yet to see if the U.S. is truly serious about diplomacy.”
Fox News first reported that the trip was off. Trump told anchor Aishah Hasnie that the U.S. was “not going to be making any more 18-hour flights to sit around talking about nothing.”
Trump also told Axios on Saturday that the trip to Islamabad was “too long” given the state of talks.
“I see no point of sending them on an 18-hour flight in the current situation,” Trump told Axios, adding, “We can do it just as well by telephone. The Iranians can call us if they want. We are not gonna travel just to sit there.”
When asked for an explanation for Witkoff’s and Kushner’s trip cancellation, the White House referred MS NOW to the president’s interviews with Fox News and Axios.
Akayla Gardner and Emily Hung contributed to this report.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
The post Trump cancels U.S. officials’ trip to Pakistan for Iran negotiations appeared first on MS NOW.
