White House stands by Donald Trump's 'lies and deceit' comments on Pakistan, calls withdrawal of aid 'important'

Washington: The White House has said it stands by the comment of US president Donald Trump in which he said that Pakistan had given the US nothing but “ lies and deceit” in return for $33 billion aid. [caption id=“attachment_3842479” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Sarah Sanders. AP[/caption] “The United States has foolishly given Pakistan more than $33 billion in aid over the last 15 years, and they have given us nothing but lies and deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools. They give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more!” Trump had said in his first tweet of the year. “Yes,” White House press secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters at her daily news conference on Wednesday. Following his tweet, the Trump administration suspended about $2 billion in security assistance to Pakistan. “Our position is firm: That we believe that withdrawing that aid is important,” Sanders told reporters in response to another question.