The President's Tweet Is Not A Game-Changer In U.S.-Pakistan Relations

Shamila Chaudhary wrote for NPR about how President Trump's recent tweet on US aid to Pakistan fits into broader US-Pakistani relations:

Remember that time when President-elect Donald Trump called Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in 2016 and said: "I am ready and willing to play any role that you want me to play to address and find solutions to the outstanding problems"?

Well, he changed his mind. On New Year's Day, he tweeted this:

"The United States has foolishly given Pakistan more than 33 billion dollars in aid over the last 15 years, and they have given us nothing but lies & deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools. They give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more!"

This doesn't sound like the earnest attempt at diplomacy that Trump alluded to in 2016. But it's not as provocative as some may believe.