Washington: Pakistan has become the latest country to find itself in the firing line of US President Donald Trump.

Trump said on Monday that the United States has "foolishly" handed Pakistan more than $US33 billion in aid over the last 15 years while getting "nothing" in return. He pledged to put a stop to the aid.

In the New Year's Day Twitter attack, he also accused the government in Pakistan of "lies and deceit".

It was not immediately clear what prompted Trump's criticism of Pakistan, but he has long complained that Islamabad is not doing enough to tackle Islamist militants.

The New York Times reported on December 29 that the Trump administration was "strongly considering" whether to withhold more than a quarter of a billion dollars in aid to Pakistan.

It said US officials had sought but been denied access to a member of the Taliban-linked Haqqani network captured in Pakistan who potentially could provide information about at least one American hostage.

Last month, Trump claimed that the US government makes "massive payments every year to Pakistan. They have to help."

Pakistan counters that it has launched military operations to push out militants from its soil and that 17,000 Pakistanis have died fighting militants or in bombings and other attacks since 2001.

The top US general in Afghanistan, John Nicholson, said in November that he had not seen a change in Pakistan's behaviour towards militants, despite the Trump administration's tougher line against Islamabad.

Hamdullah Mohib, Afghanistan's ambassador in Washington, said in a Twitter posting on Monday that Trump's tweet was a "promising message to Afghans who have suffered at the hands of terrorists based in Pakistan for far too long."

The Pakistan embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday. 

In other New Year's Day tweet, the President described Iran as "failing at every level" and called for change in the country – another apparent tweet in support of ongoing protests in the country.

Reuters