US-Pakistan ties have deteriorated since the US raid that killed Osama Bin Laden The US says it is withholding some $800m of military aid to Pakistan.
White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley told ABC's This Week programme that Pakistan had "taken some steps that have given us reason to pause on some of the aid".
He said there was a "lot of pain" in Pakistan over the US raid that killed Osama Bin Laden in the country in May.
Mr Daley said that the US relationship with Pakistan "must be made to work over time".
He accepted that Pakistan had been "an important ally in the fight on terrorism. They've been the victim of enormous amounts of terrorism".
He added: "It's a complicated relationship in a very difficult, complicated part of the world.
"Until we get through these difficulties, we will hold back some of the money that the American taxpayers have committed to give them."
The New York Times earlier quoted senior US officials as saying the suspension of military aid amounted to about one-third of the yearly US security assistance to Pakistan.
Setback
In a sign of how difficult Pakistan-US relations have become, the top US military officer Adm Mike Mullen last week suggested the Pakistani government had "sanctioned" the killing in May of journalist Saleem Shahzad.
Pakistan Information Minister Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan said that Adm Mullen's statement was "extremely irresponsible and regrettable".
She said it would cause difficulties in relations between the sides and prove a setback to the war against terror.
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