Trump’s praise for PM Sharif puzzles foreign media
- By Azhar Khan -
- Dec 01, 2016
WASHINGTON: The statement issued by the Pakistan’s Prime Minister office citing Donald Trump heaping praise on premier Nawaz Sharif and the Muslim country has raised eyebrows in the international media, leaving them in apparent ‘disbelief’.
Trump has been quite vocal against Muslims during his election campaigns and even vowed to ban Muslim immigrants into the United States — a call that later sparked worldwide tumult.
In 2012, Trump also took to his social media platform, Twitter, to denounce Pakistan.
The coverage of Mr. Sharif’s felicitatory telephonic call to US president-elect has stirred a debate in the global media, apparently viewing the conversation between the two dignitaries with a skeptical eye.
The press statement by the PM House is as follows:
“Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif called President-elect USA Donald Trump and felicitated him on his victory. President Trump said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif you have a very good reputation. You are a terrific guy. You are doing amazing work which is visible in every way. I am looking forward to see you soon. As I am talking to you Prime Minister, I feel I am talking to a person I have known for long. Your country is amazing with tremendous opportunities. Pakistanis are one of the most intelligent people. I am ready and willing to play any role that you want me to play to address and find solutions to the outstanding problems. It will be an honor and I will personally do it. Feel free to call me any time even before 20th January that is before I assume my office.
On being invited to visit Pakistan by the Prime Minister, Mr. Trump said that he would love to come to a fantastic country, fantastic place of fantastic people. Please convey to the Pakistani people that they are amazing and all Pakistanis I have known are exceptional people, said Mr. Donald Trump.”
Some Twitter users also took a jibe at use of words and overall language in the readout and described it as ‘amusing’.
Trump also spoke highly of Pakistan’s archrival, India. Prospecting India and the United States would be the “best friend”, Trump in Edison, N.J. at a rally said: “There won’t be any relationship more important to us.”
Here’s how the international media analyzed and reported Pakistan’s PM House statement on Trump-Nawaz conversation.
Washington Post
The readout is unusual in that it focuses almost entirely on Trump’s contributions to the conversation, and reproduces them in a voice that is unmistakably his. When contacted by Washington Post, Trump’s transition team did not respond to immediate requests for comment or corroboration.
Sharif, the Pakistani prime minister, is markedly less loved in his country than Trump’s praise would make it seem. “ He is being investigated for conflicts of interest stemming from four luxurious apartments occupied by members of his family in London, and has vowed to step down if found guilty of siphoning funds.”
TIME
“…The penchant for hyperbole that Trump often exhibited in off-the-cuff campaign speeches came through in the phone call, during which Sharif congratulated him on his election victory and invited him to visit Pakistan.
Trump’s transition team has not released a readout.”
The Independent
And The Independent begins on a highly critical note.
“Donald Trump has never met Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
But he knows he has a “very good reputation”, and understands he is a “terrific guy”. In fact, Mr Trump feels such a connection with the Pakistani leader, whom he hopes to visit soon, that he feels like he is “talking to a person I have known for a long time”
Mr Trump has never, apparently, visited Pakistan either, and he spoke out during this campaign about the threat of Muslims. Yet he knows the country is rich with “tremendous opportunities”…
…Yet the transcript of a telephone conversation between Mr Trump and fellow businessman Mr Sharif, released by the Pakistan leader’s office on Wednesday, suggested a conversation nothing less than remarkable. Indeed, if the transcript is true, it maybe the starting of a beautiful new bromance.”
Wall Street Journal
“President-elect Donald Trump has spoken with more than 40 foreign leaders since he won the Nov. 8 election, but his transition team has provided few details about what is discussed in those conversations.
That has left plenty of room for the foreign leaders to offer their interpretations of these phone calls, ranging from the discreet to the effusive.
The latest example came Wednesday, with the Pakistani government issued a statement saying that its prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, spoke to Mr. Trump and “felicitated him on his victory….”
VOX
“…On Wednesday afternoon, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif called Donald Trump to talk about working together in the future. The Pakistani government then released what’s called a “readout,” which is usually a fairly boring summary of a call between world leaders.
Only this one … well, it’s not boring. It reads more like a transcript of actual things Trump said to Sharif, and those things are amazing. Here’s the readout in full…”