Trump cancels representatives’ trip to meet with Iranian officials in Pakistan

President Donald Trump announced April 25 that he has canceled the trip of his representatives to go to Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, to meet with Iran for another round of negotiations.

“Too much time wasted on traveling, too much work! Besides which, there is tremendous infighting and confusion within [the Iranians’] ‘leadership,’” Trump said in an April 25 Truth Social post. “Nobody knows who is in charge, including them. Also, we have all the cards, they have none! If they want to talk, all they have to do is call!!!”

Zeale News previously reported that White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said April 24 that Trump was sending Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and peace envoy Jared Kushner to the meeting, which Iranian officials had requested. She said Trump is “always willing to give diplomacy a chance” and that the White House was hopeful that the conversation would be productive and advance efforts toward reaching a deal. 

According to FOX News, just before boarding Air Force One April 25, Trump told reporters that Tehran gave a new proposal shortly after he canceled the Islamabad trip.

“They gave us a paper that should have been better,” the President explained, according to FOX News. “And interestingly, immediately when I canceled it, within ten minutes, we got a new paper that was much better.”

The President also indicated that lengthy travel times played a role in the decision to cancel, telling reporters, “There's no reason to wait two days — have people traveling for 16, 17 hours — we're not doing it that way.”

He later added, “When they want, they can call me. We have all the cards. We've won everything. We have all the cards.”

Meanwhile, Shehbaz Sharif, the prime minister of Pakistan, said in an April 25 X post that he had a phone conversation that day with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. He described the call as “warm and constructive” and said it related to “the evolving regional situation.” 

Sharif reiterated in the post that Pakistan intends to continue being a genuine facilitator in the situation. 

“I appreciated Iran’s continued engagement, including the high-level delegation to Islamabad led by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, whom I had the pleasure of meeting earlier today,” Sharif said. “I reaffirmed that, with the support of friends and partners, Pakistan remains committed to serve as an honest and sincere facilitator — working tirelessly to advance durable peace and lasting stability in the region.”