'No trip scheduled': White House denies Trump's Pakistan trip; local media retracts report

NEW DELHI: White House on Thursday dismissed media reports claiming US President Donald Trump is scheduled to visit Pakistan on September."A trip to Pakistan has not been scheduled at this time", the White House said.US White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that he will visit Scotland from July 25-July 29."US President Donald Trump will travel to Scotland, where he will visit both Turnberry and Aberdine from July 25-July 29. During the visit, Trump will meet again with Prime Minister Starmer to refine the great trade deal that was brokered between the United States and the United Kingdom," she said.Leavitt further said that Trump and First Lady Melania will visit Windsor Castle to meet King Charles later this year."And the President and the First Lady will travel to the United Kingdom for an official state visit from September 17-September 19 later this fall. This will mark a truly unprecedented second state visit for President Trump and he is honoured and looking forward to meeting with His Majesty the King at Windsor Castle," she said.Leavitt said that Trump is set to hold trade-related talks with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer during the visit.This comes hours after two Pakistani television news channels reported Trump's visit to Islamabad citing sources. The news channels said that Trump would also visit India after arriving in Islamabad in September.Later, the news channel withdrew reports that , with one of them issuing an apology.George W Bush was the last US president to visit Pakistan in 2006.Earlier, Pakistan's army chief field Marshal Asim Munir's historic White House lunch with US President Donald Trump on June 18 was followed by American airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities on June 22, causing political backlash in Pakistan.During the meeting, Munir had urged Trump to ease tensions between Iran and Israel.This marked the first instance of a Pakistani military chief being received at the White House while a civilian government was in power in Islamabad. The meeting and subsequent US strikes led to widespread criticism of Pakistan's diplomatic approach.