A casual comment by US StateDepartment spokesperson Tammy Bruce has sparked talk about a possible meeting between Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and former US President Donald Trump. Bruce was replying to a question about Trump’s earlier offer to help solve the Kashmir issue between India and Pakistan. In her response, she mentioned that a Pakistani team will visit Washington for a bilateral meeting and that she will be part of it. She smiled and added, “I like things that make me smile, and not many questions here make me smile.”

Her comment followed Trump’s recent claims in Saudi Arabia, where he said he helped prevent war between India and Pakistan by encouraging both sides to talk. This led to fresh rumours that Trump might visit Pakistan. Several Pakistani news channels, including Geo News and ARY News, reported that Trump would travel to Islamabad in September and possibly visit India afterwards.

However, these reports were quickly withdrawn. Geo News even apologised for reporting the news without confirming it. An ARY official told Reuters that the story was taken back after Pakistan’s Foreign Office denied knowing anything about such a visit. The White House also confirmed that no trip to Pakistan is planned, and a US Embassy official in Islamabad said there was nothing to announce.

Pakistan’s Foreign Office spokesperson, Shafqat Ali Khan, also told the media they had no information about Trump coming to Pakistan. Even though there’s no official visit planned, US-Pakistan relations have improved recently. Last month, Trump hosted Pakistan’s Army Chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, at the White House, a rare move for any US President.

It’s worth noting that no sitting US President has visited Pakistan in nearly 20 years. The last time was in 2006, when President George W. Bush visited Islamabad.