Trump praises ‘brilliant’ Pakistanis, says Islamabad ‘would love to trade with US’

US President Donald Trump has said he enjoys good relations with Islamabad, calling Pakistanis “brilliant people” who make “incredible products”.

“You know they (Pakistanis) are brilliant people, they make incredible products. We don’t do much trading with them, and yet I have a good relationship with them,” Trump said in an interview with US outlet Fox News Friday. “They (Pakistan) would love to trade (with the US).”

The US is Pakistan’s largest export market with over $5 billion in annual exports as of 2024, while Pakistan’s imports from the US are about $2.1 billion.

In April, Trump ignited a potentially ruinous trade war as he slapped sweeping tariffs on imports worldwide and harsh additional levies on key trading partners. Pakistan was hit by a 29% reciprocal tariff, which was put on hold until July.

Last month, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb told Bloomberg in an interview that Pakistan wants to buy more goods from the United States (US) and remove non-tariff barriers to escape Trump’s high tariffs.

Meanwhile, speaking for Fox News on Friday, Trump reiterated that he brokered a ceasefire agreement between India and Pakistan, calling it a “bigger success than I will ever be given credit for”.

“Those are major nuclear powers, and they were angry. It was tit-for-tat,” he said.

Trump said the situation between the two neighbouring countries had escalated to the point where nuclear war could have broken out.

“That was going to be a nuclear war, I think or close.”

“The hatred was great, and I said, we’re going to talk about trade. We’re going to do a lot of trade.”

Pakistan-India conflict: PM Shehbaz commends Trump’s role

Trump emphasised his strong engagement with Pakistan, saying he had ‘great conversations’ with them. “You know we can’t forget them (Pakistan) because it does take two to tango.”

Referring to his trade discussions with both India and Pakistan, the US President said that he is using trade “to settle scores and make peace”.

Ties between Pakistan and India nosedived after a deadly attack in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) last month that New Delhi said was backed by Islamabad.

Pakistan denied involvement, but intense fighting broke out when India struck what it said were “terrorist camps” in Pakistan last week. They agreed on a ceasefire on Saturday, which has largely held.