Islamabad: Pakistan has lashed out after Donald Trump accused its leaders of "lies & deceit" and suggested the United States would withdraw financial assistance to the nuclear-armed nation it once saw as a key ally against terrorism.

US Ambassador David Hale was summoned to the Foreign Ministry to discuss the US President's statement, US Embassy spokesman Richard Snelsire said.

Pakistan then lodged a strongly worded protest and asked for clarification of Trump's comments, according to two foreign office officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Trump also said on Monday, US time, that the United States had "foolishly" handed Pakistan more than $US33 billion ($42 billion) in aid over the last 15 years while getting "nothing" in return. He pledged to put a stop to the aid.

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."

In August he demanded that its leaders crack down on the safe havens enjoyed by Taliban militants fighting US-backed forces in neighbouring Afghanistan.

Trump's face was plastered across TV channels in Pakistan after the New Year's Day Twitter tirade. Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif went on Geo TV, the country's biggest news channel, to respond.

"We have already told the US that we will not do more, so Trump's 'no more' does not hold any importance," Asif said.

He said that Trump was disappointed that the US was losing its 16-year war in Afghanistan and was trying to blame Pakistan. He also said Pakistan was "ready to publicly provide every detail of the US aid that it has received."

Pakistani officials maintain that the billions of dollars the country has received were mainly reimbursements for supporting US-led coalition forces that invaded Afghanistan in 2001 to topple the Taliban regime that sheltered al-Qaeda. It says 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.

Afghanistan officials cheered Trump's tough talk against Pakistan, which it accuses of sponsoring terrorist attacks on Afghan soil.

Hamdullah Mohib, Afghanistan's ambassador in Washington, said in a Twitter posting 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."

LA Times, Reuters