Trump Cancels Pakistan Trip, Claims US ‘Has All The Cards’: Report

• President Donald Trump reportedly canceled Witkoff and Kushner’s Pakistan trip “unilaterally,” saying the U.S. has leverage and won’t pursue in-person Iran talks.
• Iran denied direct talks, opting to communicate only via Pakistani intermediaries.
• Markets stayed resilient in the after-hours, with retail sentiment around QQQ remaining in the ‘bearish’ zone and SPY in the ‘bullish’ zone on Stocktwits.

Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner were set to visit Pakistan to discuss peace talks with Iran on Saturday, but U.S. President Donald Trump has reportedly canceled the trip, according to Fox News White House correspondent Aishah Hasnie. 

According to an X post by Hasnie, the decision is said to have been taken “unilaterally”, breaking off preparations just as officials were about to leave. Trump allegedly told Hasnie in a phone call that he personally got involved in stopping the 18-hour-long flight, saying the US has enough leverage and doesn’t need to chase in-person talks.

'Nope, you're not making an 18-hour flight to go there. We have all the cards. They can call us anytime they want, but you're not going to be making any more 18-hour flights to sit around talking about nothing," wrote Hasnie, citing the U.S. President.

Iran Talks In Limbo

The cancellation occurs amid already fragile diplomatic dynamics, as conflicting signals emanate from both Washington and Tehran regarding the scope and format of potential talks.

Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner were scheduled to travel to Islamabad for discussions earlier today. However, Tehran denied any direct discussions with US officials, stating that its positions would be communicated through Pakistani intermediaries.

Pakistani mediators are "cautiously optimistic," and Iran's Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, has arrived in the capital as part of a regional tour. The content of the discussions, however, remains under media blackout due to the unresolved nature of critical issues, such as Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Iran shut down the waterway and referred to the US Navy's blockade of Iranian ports as "piracy" last week.

The Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) which tracks the Nasdaq-100 Index showed modest strength, closing at $663.88, up over 1% on Friday, down in the after-hours. While the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) tracks, the S&P 500 Index also closed up over 0.7% on Friday’s close. Retail sentiment around QQQ stock remained in ‘bearish’ territory, while retail sentiment around SPY stock stayed in the ‘bullish’ zone.

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