President Trump and PTI's unfulfilled expectations

It may remain a mystery whether President Trump discussed the fate of PTI founder Imran Khan during his meeting with Field Marshal General Syed Asim Munir. However, the post-meeting scenario makes it clear that PTI was betting on the wrong horse.

To PTI’s disappointment, President Donald Trump, the White House Press Secretary, and the State Department have all avoided mentioning anything about the release of prisoner 804.

Has President Trump forgotten “the very popular and, by the way, great athlete - one of the greatest - but very popular (former) Prime Minister of Pakistan”? Is the Republican leader also ignoring Syed Javaid Anwar, the only Pakistani American who rubs shoulders with him and is a great admirer of Khan?

The Anwar connection

Anwar was probably the only Pakistani-American invited to the Capitol rotunda for the super exclusive swearing-in ceremony of President Trump.

This invitation was largely due to the oil tycoon’s $2 million donation to Trump’s campaign and an additional million dollars to Republicans. However, freezing weather and torrential rain kept the staunch Republican Anwar at home. Instead, Anwar sent his son and daughter-in-law to represent him at the ceremony.

Several Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leaders were also interested in attending the event. Many of them, including Qasim Suri, Major (retired) Tahir Sadiq, PTI’s Secretary Organisation of International Chapters Sajjad Burki, and former Advisor to Imran Khan Atif Khan, had received passes for the outside seating arrangement. Their hopes were dashed when the bitter cold temperature moved the public event to the rotunda.

Pakistan was represented by Ambassador Rizwan Saeed Sheikh, who had a seat in the diplomatic enclave. Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, who happened to be in Washington DC, was not officially invited to the event. He attended the second event held at the arena where President Trump addressed a crowd of 20,000-plus supporters.

The 2019 Khan-Trump Meeting

This was the same Capital One Arena where Imran Khan had addressed almost 13,000 American Pakistanis in July 2019 - a historic moment as no Pakistani leader had addressed such a large gathering in the American capital until then.

All arrangements for that 2019 event were made by Javaid Anwar, who donated $500,000 to the organising committee and later paid thousands more to install a mega screen behind the stage. Anwar also paid for a full back-page advertisement in the New York Times the day before Imran Khan met Donald Trump, aimed at spreading awareness about why Kashmir matters. That unprecedented move helped set the summit agenda.

Kashmir mediation offer

When the Kashmir issue was raised during their meeting, President Trump, without a second thought, announced his readiness to be a mediator.

“I was with Prime Minister Modi two weeks ago, and we talked about this subject. And he actually said, ‘Would you like to be a mediator or arbitrator?’ I said, ‘Where?’ He said, ‘Kashmir.’ Because this has been going on for many, many years. I was surprised at how long,” President Trump remarked.

Imran Khan responded that the American president would have the prayers of over a billion people if he could mediate and resolve this issue.

Long before the resonance of his words reached Delhi, the Indian Prime Minister categorically rejected the claim that he had ever sought arbitration or mediation. With that ended any hope that President Trump would do anything to resolve the matter, at least during Imran Khan’s premiership.

Trump’s real interests

Diplomats knew at the time that the president was just playing with words. President Trump was more interested in talking about Afghanistan. To him, “Pakistan was not doing anything for us. They were...subversive...going against us.”

This was probably why he evaded questions about the possibility of visiting Pakistan: “I can’t say that yet because, so far, he (Imran Khan) has not extended me an invitation. (Laughter.) And after today’s meeting, maybe he won’t.”

Trade relations

Facts and figures show that President Trump didn’t make efforts to raise bilateral trade volume during Imran Khan’s premiership, despite telling Khan about the possibility of increasing it 10 or even 20 times.

Data shows that during second term of President Barack Obama, US Pakistan trade volume remained between $5 billion and $7.3 billion. During first term of President Trump, it fluctuated between $6.8 and $7.3 billion. It was only the tenure of President Joe Biden that the bilateral trade volume crossed $9 billion.

Even the second Trump presidency has witnessed a regular pattern of trade till now (2024: $7.3 billion).

In summary, there was no special relationship between Trump and Khan. It was fantastical to believe that due to some campaign funding events and letters from congresspeople (who are bound to please their constituents and donors), PTI USA would be able to switch US policy toward Khan.

However, PTI USA did make some difference; they played a part in releasing activists who held dual citizenship. This is standard practice, as every country comes to the aid of its citizens in need. In this regard, PTI USA helped America’s national interest at the same time.

In the last six months, so much water has passed under the bridge that Trump and Pakistan are on an altogether different level of trust and relationship. As a result, PTI USA has become disgruntled with Donald Trump and increasingly disorganised. Major donors like Javaid Anwar have parted ways, as many of those who received money from him used it to promote themselves rather than seeking Khan's release.

The tightening of dollar flow has shown its impact on the ground. PTI USA’s so-called leaders have squarely failed to bring out protesters in Washington DC against Field Marshal General Syed Asim Munir.

What remains are YouTubers who serve as vultures, playing with the emotions of those who still hallucinate about the so-called golden days of PTI and expect the release of Imran Khan anytime soon.

Disclaimer: The viewpoints expressed in this piece are the writer's own and don't necessarily reflect Geo.tv's editorial policy.