Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi chaired a cabinet meeting yesterday, January 2, that focused on a critical tweet by U.S. President Donald Trump over the government’s links to Islamist militants.

Pakistan summoned the U.S. ambassador David Hale on Monday (January 1) in protest at Trump’s allegation that Pakistan was engaging in “lies and deceit”.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad confirmed the meeting took place.

In a withering attack, Trump on Monday (Jan 1) said the United States had “foolishly” handed Pakistan more than $33 billion in aid in the last 15 years and had been rewarded with “nothing but lies and deceit”.

“They give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more!” Trump wrote on Twitter.

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