White House denies reports of Trump's planned visit to Pak in September

White House denies Trump's visit to Pakistan, TV channels withdraw false reports; Trump set to visit UK in September

The White House on Thursday (local time) denied reports that US President Donald Trump would visit Pakistan in September, saying no such trip was planned “at this time”.

 

Earlier in the day, several Pakistani television news channels, including Geo News and ARY News, reported, citing sources, that Trump would travel to Pakistan in September, followed by a visit to India. However, both channels later retracted their reports and admitted that they had aired the news without verifying it, Reuters reported.

 

“Geo News apologises to its viewers for airing the news without a verification,” the broadcaster said in a statement. A senior official at ARY News told Reuters that the channel withdrew the report after Pakistan’s foreign office clarified it had no knowledge of any such visit.

 

 

No confirmation from Washington or Islamabad

 

The White House was quick to quash the rumours. “A trip to Pakistan has not been scheduled at this time,” a White House official told Dawn. Pakistan Foreign Office Spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan also told Dawn, “We have no information about this matter.”

 

A US embassy spokesperson in Islamabad echoed the same, telling Reuters, “We have nothing to announce,” and suggested that the White House would be best positioned to confirm any details related to the president’s travel plans. 

 

Improved ties but no presidential visit in sight

 

Despite the lack of any confirmed visit, ties between the US and Pakistan have shown signs of improvement in recent months. In a notable development last month, Trump hosted Pakistan’s Army Chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, at the White House, an unprecedented move by a sitting US president.

 

It has been nearly two decades since a US president visited Pakistan. The last such trip was in 2006, when then-US President George W. Bush travelled to the country. 

 

Trump to visit UK in September

 

While a visit to Pakistan is off the cards for now, Trump does have confirmed overseas travel plans. Buckingham Palace has announced that King Charles will host the US President in the United Kingdom from September 17 to 19. This will be Trump’s second state visit to Britain.  (with inputs from agencies)