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Vox ·Future-gazing

How Pakistan Became Trump’s Most Surprising Ally

by Joshua Keating

Published 2026-06-04 06:45:00-04:00

How did Pakistan become the only country that can get Washington and Tehran in the same room?

0:00 / 12:02 · Narrator Gacrux

Context

In this piece from 4 June 2026, Vox tracks one of the most unexpected diplomatic pivots of the second Trump administration: Pakistan’s sudden shift from outcast to essential mediator. The daily updates of the US-Iran conflict have moved on since the summer, but the structural shift captured here remains completely relevant. The article details how a new military strongman used well-timed flattery and cryptocurrency deals to bypass traditional foreign policy channels, allowing Islamabad to rewrite its relationship with Washington from the ground up.

Show notes

An examination of how Pakistan became the primary mediator between the United States and Iran during the 2026 conflict. The reporting traces Islamabad's diplomatic turnaround since the first Trump administration, detailing how its military leadership secured a new alliance through extraditions, cryptocurrency deals, and flattery. It outlines the domestic economic pressures forcing Pakistan to broker a ceasefire and the risks of relying on highly personal diplomacy.

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