• Beach plays down Richard Grenell’s pro-PTI remarks, says he may have been ‘misled’
• Govt offers support as US investors eye Pakistan for investments in several areas
ISLAMABAD: A close aide to US President Donald Trump, who is currently leading a delegation of investors to Pakistan to explore business opportunities, said on Wednesday the US administration has nothing but respect for the incumbent leadership of Pakistan, led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
Gentry Beach, who also met PM Shehbaz, made these remarks at a press conference as journalists asked him questions about Richard Grenell — Trump’s special missions envoy in the new administration — who had tweeted in support of incarcerated PTI chief Imran Khan, stirring controversy.
The US investor said Mr Grenell “may have been misled” about Pakistan. “He personally told me there are a number of deepfakes, AI presentations on the internet … it’s not true or real,” he said in response to a question.
According to Mr Beach, Mr Grenell had a very defined view and “supports everything we are doing in Pakistan”.
“I believe [Grenell] probably has a better understanding today than he did previously of the current situation here … I have seen no evidence that our administration in the US has anything but respect for their leadership here. Period,” he added.
‘Billions of dollars’
Mr Beach said US President Donald Trump believed in economic diplomacy and that their ongoing visit was part of that effort. “We plan on investing billions of dollars in Pakistan across a number of different areas, including critical minerals and real estate […] From a real estate perspective, we brought our real estate development partners, and I am going to build some of the most high-end and luxury properties ever seen in Pakistan,” he added.
He also mentioned energy, technology, artificial intelligence, and other areas that needed attention and investment.
Mr Beach said there were great investment opportunities in Pakistan with an amazing base of intelligent people, which he said remained “overlooked” in the past, across diverse fields.
“We view Pakistan as one of the biggest global opportunities [ … ] which is very unique,” he said.
Mr Beach said he had remained very close to the Trump administration for a long time, and that now the US was entering a new era of peace and prosperity under President Trump’s leadership.
He said the leadership of both the US and Pakistan shared the same vision for peace and prosperity, noting that for the last four years, “we all have been under attack” and criticised the policies of the Biden administration.
