- Khan said that "the way the United States has treated Pakistan as a doormat is not fair".
"Pakistan had nothing to do with it," he said, adding that he supported co-operation with the United States but not co-opting Pakistan's military into a ground battle with its own people in the tribal regions that border Afghanistan and where Afghan insurgents hide.
Pakistanis are still outraged two weeks after Trump's New Year's Day tweet accusing Islamabad of "deceit and lies," and of taking $33 billion in aid over 15 years while harboring Afghan insurgents, who are attacking American soldiers in neighboring Afghanistan.
Khan said that Trump scapegoated Pakistan for the US-led coalition's failure to defeat the Taleban and bring peace to Afghanistan, and that "it was very insulting of him."
Should he become Pakistan's prime minister, Khan said "yes we would talk," referring to Trump, but added that the US dishonors the memory of thousands of Pakistan's soldiers who died battling insurgents in its tribal regions, as well as that of tens of thousands of Pakistanis who died in terrorist attacks.
"The way the United States has treated Pakistan as a doormat is not fair," he said.
Pakistan's politics have been in turmoil since Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was dismissed from power last year on corruption charges and a party faithful, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, was sworn in as prime minister until new elections are held.
Khan has called for early elections, which should be held by July in keeping with the Constitution.
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