Senator Mushahid Hussain claimed on ARY News on January 20 that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lobby within President Donald Trump’s administration is stronger than the Pakistani government’s lobby, signalling hope for the possible release of incarcerated party leader Imran Khan.

 

“Donald Trump is not a traditional politician, and he won’t accept some file being given to him about Pakistan from the State Department. He considers his likes and dislikes only. When he sees Pakistan, he only remembers Imran Khan,” stated the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) senator.

 

Social media blew up when Donald Trump’s close aide and envoy, Richard Grenell, demanded the release of former Prime Minister Khan in multiple X (formerly Twitter) posts.

 

Grenell’s multiple posts on December 16 last year calling for Khan's release garnered hundreds of thousands of views.

 

The narrative gained further momentum when Matt Gaetz, another Republican and a former Trump nominee for attorney general, also wrote, “Free Imran Khan”.

 

The support was seen as a positive development for PTI, which had been lobbying and advocating for their leader’s release from prison since August 2023.

 

Many commentators and political analysts pointed out the irony of PTI trying to lobby the US to help out Imran Khan after Khan had accused Washington of conspiring against his government in 2022.

 

Khan’s government was removed from office in April 2022 after nearly four years in power, following a parliamentary no-confidence vote.

 

“I believe that Trump becoming the President of the United States is good news for everyone. He has exposed the deep state or the establishment in his country. He has made a ten-point plan for the demolition of the deep state, and by deep state, he means the CIA. Things like killing people in other countries or conducting regime changes, this is all work of CIA, which Trump is against,” stated the Senator.

 

He added that 25 years ago, the US President visited Pakistan to release his friend, Nawaz Sharif, “As history witnessed, Nawaz Sharif was indeed released during the Musharraf regime.”

 

The senator was referring to former US president Bill Clinton's visit to Pakistan in 2000, after General Pervez Musharraf had removed Nawaz Sharif from power through a coup.

 

Show host Waseem Badami asked if Imran Khan would agree to remain silent without coming to power, similar to Nawaz Sharif's decision. In response, Mushahid Hussain said, “President Trump may become the guarantor of Imran Khan’s behaviour. He could be the dealmaker.”