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Virtually alone in the world, Pakistan seems to have played its cards right with President Donald Trump.

It’s among the few countries to have reached a US trade deal without too many hiccups, unlike Switzerland, Brazil — or Pakistan’s arch-rival, India.

The first interactions between Islamabad and the Trump White House happened when India and Pakistan came close to war earlier this year, with both sides exchanging missile and drone strikes.

Pakistan Air Force J-10C fighter jets. Photographer: Aamir Qureshi/AFP/Getty Images

Trump announced a ceasefire that Pakistan welcomed with open arms, while India repudiated the president’s claim that he’d brokered the truce.

With hindsight, India’s relations with the White House went downhill from there.

Pakistan, meanwhile, has some assets that piqued Trump’s interest.

It has one of the world’s largest untapped gold and copper resources, leading to speculation the US may want a similar minerals deal to one struck with Ukraine. It’s secured US investments, with Trump posting about working with Pakistan to develop “their massive oil reserves.”

Then there’s crypto. Representatives of Trump-backed World Liberty Financial flew into Islamabad around the time of the Pakistan-India clashes and announced a deal to work with Pakistan as it opens up to digital currencies.

All this culminated in a surprise lunch meeting at the White House for Army chief Asim Munir, the most powerful person in Pakistan. Soon after, its government said it would nominate Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize.

A man carries a portrait of Asim Munir during a rally in Islamabad on May 14. Photographer: Aamir Qureshi/AFP/Getty Images

It’s a turnaround from recent US relations, with hardly any high-level contacts between Pakistan and the Biden administration. India, by contrast, was long courted by the US as a bulwark against China.

Pakistan has its troubles: It’s on the front line of climate change, and only stabilized its economy with the help of loans from the International Monetary Fund.

Yet there’s relief in Islamabad that Pakistan can look forward to warm ties with the Trump administration. That new sense of confidence is all the sweeter as India sweats. — Faseeh Mangi

Global Must Reads

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi talked trade with his Brazilian counterpart and is expected to head to China for the first time in seven years, both moves that have taken on added significance given worsening ties with Washington after Trump penalized New Delhi for trade barriers and purchases of Russian oil. India, Brazil, China and Russia are founding members of the BRICS grouping, which Trump has slammed as being anti-US.

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Narendra Modi in Rio de Janeiro in November. Photographer: Dado Galdieri/Bloomberg

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu secured cabinet approval for a military takeover of Gaza City, which he described as part of a final push to topple Hamas and recover its last 50 hostages. The decision to step up operations in the strip’s biggest city marks an escalation in a conflict that’s already devastated the Palestinian territory, where the United Nations has warned half a million people are starving.

Trump is willing to meet with Vladimir Putin, even if the Russian leader hadn’t yet agreed to also sit down with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. The US president said he was “very disappointed” with Putin’s behavior and left open the possibility of additional penalties over the war in Ukraine as soon as today.

Trump said he’ll host the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan for a White House peace summit today with expectations that they’ll sign an agreement seeking to end decades of conflict between the South Caucasus nations. Separately, Cambodia formally nominated Trump for a Nobel prize after he threatened to halt trade deals unless the Southeast Asian country agreed to a ceasefire with Thailand in their recent conflict.

An investigation into the possible theft of technology at Taiwanese chip giant TSMC, including the arrest for allegedly stealing trade secrets of a former employee at Tokyo Electron, is putting pressure on a lesser-known tech linchpin. The Japanese company — among the world’s biggest suppliers of chipmaking tools — is now struggling to address the potential fallout with one of its most important customers and with governments in Tokyo and Taipei.

Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan said he has the full backing of the company’s board, responding for the first time to Trump’s call for his resignation over what the president called conflicts of interest.

Lip-Bu Tan is under fire for his connections to China. Photographer: Annabelle Chih/Bloomberg

Poland’s new president, Karol Nawrocki, proposed revamping a project to build one of Europe’s biggest airports, rejecting changes made by the government and pointing to clashes ahead between the nationalist head of state and pro-EU Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

France’s thorny relations with Algeria plunged to a new low as President Emmanuel Macron urged “greater firmness” in its approach and canceled visa exemptions for the North African nation’s officials.

Zimbabwe and the UK are rekindling diplomatic ties after almost three decades of tension, driven by a global surge in demand for critical minerals that’s led the former colonial power to pursue $1 billion in deals with the resource-rich nation.

Don’t miss from Bloomberg Weekend: The CIA spy who thwarted Taiwan’s nuclear plans, and Mishal Husain speaks to women’s rights advocate Nargis Nehan about the West’s failure in Afghanistan. Subscribe to the Bloomberg Weekend newsletter here.

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Chart of the Day

Source: Bloomberg Economics

Coup d’états are back after a post-Cold War lull – there were as many in the past six years as there were in the previous 12. Bloomberg Economics has constructed “regime instability” metrics for 155 countries over 45 years, incorporating data on living standards, demographics, the political influence of the military, democratic erosion and political unrest. Terminal clients can read more here.

And Finally

Altagracia Gómez Sierra, a 33-year-old heir to a corn-flour fortune, has become Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum’s guide to the world of commerce, an unlikely ally for a political party that rails against what it calls the “mafia of power.” While the leader’s Morena party can rub financiers the wrong way, Gómez Sierra helps solve that problem as an ambassador of sorts, courting investors on Sheinbaum’s behalf.

Altagracia Gómez Sierra. Photographer: Stephania Corpi/Bloomberg

Pop quiz (no cheating!). Officials from which major city were unable to organize a response to an April earthquake because they were locked up in prison? Send your answers to balancepower@bloomberg.net

Global Must Reads

Chart of the Day

And Finally

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