In the latest move as the US and Iran circle each other warily and the world holds its breath, US President Donald Trump on Saturday ordered his negotiating team not to travel to Pakistan for talks on ending the eight-week war that has upended the global economy.
Trump told his son-in-law Jared Kushner and special envoy Steve Witkoff to stay put and avoid wasting more time until Tehran stepped up. Vice-President J.D. Vance, who presided over the first round of talks earlier this month, remains on “standby”.
“Too much time wasted on traveling, too much work!” Trump said on social media.
In a call to Fox News, he expanded on his decision.
“I’ve told my people a little while ago, they were getting ready to leave, and I said ‘Nope, you’re not making an 18-hour flight to go there,’ ” he recounted, saying the leverage is all on the US side.
“We have all the cards,” Trump said. “They can call us anytime they want, but you’re not going to be making any more 18-hour flights to sit around talking about nothing.”
