Posted Mar 26, 2026, 9:07 PM
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New Yorker for life
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Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Borough of Jersey
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https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/26/us/politics/trump-pakistan-iran.html
After Wooing Trump With Deals, Pakistan Gets a Seat at the Table
By David Yaffe-BellanyBen Protess and Elian Peltier
March 26, 2026
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A former real estate developer now assigned to negotiate peace around the world, Mr. Witkoff brokered the unusual arrangement between the United States and Pakistani governments to explore the redevelopment of the Roosevelt Hotel, a once glamorous building that Pakistan owns.
While the Trump administration has not made the terms of the deal public, a White House official briefed on the matter described it as a potentially lucrative partnership between the two governments to co-own the property.
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A month before the Pakistani finance minister sealed the hotel deal there, he signed an agreement to work with an affiliate of World Liberty Financial, the crypto start-up founded by the Trump and Witkoff families.
The White House, however, denied any link between Mr. Witkoff’s Roosevelt Hotel deal and either his family’s crypto firm or his talks with Iran.
“This is a deal that could only be negotiated by someone with the talent and expertise of Special Envoy Witkoff,” Anna Kelly, a White House spokeswoman, said of the hotel deal, adding that it came “at no cost to the American taxpayer.” She said that Pakistan “has been an important partner” on a range of issues, including counterterrorism.
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….. The property was shut down during the pandemic and briefly reopened as a migrant shelter. Now, the Pakistani government wants to demolish the hotel to develop a new high-rise tower — and it sought Mr. Witkoff’s help.
The deal is a nonbinding collaboration between Pakistan and the General Services Administration, the federal agency that typically buys, builds and manages office space for other agencies.
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The next steps are unclear. Pakistan is looking to retain a stake in the property but wants to redevelop it with a partner, according to Muhammad Ali, the chairman of the Pakistani government’s privatization commission.
In an interview at a government office in Islamabad, Mr. Ali said he did not know whether the U.S. government might remain involved in the project, but said the partnership with the G.S.A. was “one big plus” that gave Pakistan “more credibility.”
He said Pakistan would also seek to partner with sovereign wealth funds from the Middle East and U.S. real estate developers over the next four to six months.
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Mr. Trump’s family real estate business had discussions years ago about a potential deal for the hotel, but has not been involved in any recent talks with Pakistan or Mr. Witkoff about the property, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Mr. Witkoff’s family real estate business also said that it had no involvement and therefore had no comment.
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