In an evolving political drama over US aid to Pakistan, President Donald Trump tweeted on Saturday supporting Senator Rand Paul's proposal for a bill to end all American aid to Islamabad. 'Good Idea Rand" Trump tweeted on Saturday. On Friday, the Trump administration announced it was suspending more than $1.15 billion worth security assistance to Pakistan until the country resolves to fight against local militants who have attacked US troops in Afghanistan.
"What I find particularly troubling is that the U.S. continues to fund, we continue to give money to Pakistan over a billion dollars of U.S. taxpayer money is sent to Pakistan. I'll be introducing legislation to end their funding and use that money here at home" Senator Rand Paul said on January 5, 2018.
"US should not give one penny to countries that burn our flag and chant Death to America. Countries like Pakistan that stonewall access to key information in fighting terrorism don't deserve our money," he said. "We should stop now sending hard earned tax dollars to Pakistan. We sent Pakistan over $33 billion since 2002. What did we get for? Pakistan didn't even help us find Osama bin Laden even though he was living in one of their cities for years," he alleged.
Prominent among the suspended amount includes $255 million in foreign military funding for the fiscal year 2016 as mandated by Congress. In addition, the Department of Defence has suspended the entire $900 million of the Coalition Support Fund (CSF) money to Pakistan for the fiscal year 2017. The rhetoric has raised hackles in Islamabad and fears the row could undermine Pakistan's support for US operations in Afghanistan.