Hellhole remarks puts Trump-Modi optics under strain | India News
Prime Minister Modi and US President Donald Trump (File photo)
TOI Correspondent from Washington: US President Donald Trump on Thursday muddied Washington’s already rocky relationship with the world’s two largest countries, reposting a four-page racist screed calling India and China “hellholes” and accusing them of exploiting the benefits of American birthright citizenship.The MAGA supremo, seen by a growing number of Americans as incoherent and erratic and known for posting unvarnished rubbish, chose to repost an anti-immigrant tirade by conservative radio host Michael Savage, who espouses nativist nationalism with an emphasis on borders, language and culture. In his screed, Savage claimed that under birthright citizenship, “a child here becomes an instant citizen and then they bring the whole family over from China or India or some other hellhole on the planet.“Echoing crude nativist tropes, he charged that immigrants from these countries exploit the system through so-called “birth tourism” and described them as “gangsters with laptops”, accusing them of undermining American workers and institutions.The post shared on Trump’s Truth social platform was not a passing endorsement or a casual “like.” It was a wholesale amplification of Savage’s commentary, effectively elevating the speech to the mainstream political discourse of a sitting president. By reposting the entire commentary without the language of caution or distance, Trump was seen as not only criticizing the policy, but also endorsing the rhetoric.The post also comes as the US Supreme Court examines the validity of Trump’s executive order to curtail birthright citizenship under the 14th Amendment. It also coincides with slipping approval ratings and a contentious midterm election cycle, suggesting that immigration—and the cultural anxieties surrounding it—remain central to Trump’s political playbook.US officials, some of whom are clearly frustrated by Trump’s unvarnished posts and statements, have been left to clean up the mess by regurgitating some complementary points about India in the past. The MAGA boss has often spoken of his personal relationship with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, invoking personal friendship and great friendship, while rarely expressing a substantive policy vision for US-India relations.Despite failed attempts by glib American diplomats, with the US embassy in New Delhi reaching out to the media to soften the latest rant, former officials admit that US-India relations are currently at an all-time low. Former Obama White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel said at a recent Harvard event that the Trump administration essentially spat in India’s face, even as many regional experts remain mystified by the US president’s embrace of Pakistan, a country he described as a haven for terrorism during his first term. India’s foreign ministry said it had seen Trump’s post without elaborating.Trump’s record is littered with controversial—and often blatantly racist—comments. During his first presidency, he referred to African countries as “loose countries” in a White House meeting with Haiti, while expressing a preference for immigrants from the Nordic countries.Earlier, in one of the most infamous cases, Trump took out full-page newspaper ads in 1989 calling for the death penalty for the case of the Central Park Five—five black and Latino teenagers released after spending years in prison. Even after their innocence was established, Trump questioned their exoneration, a stance widely criticized as symbolizing a broader pattern of racially charged and prejudice that goes back to his father, Fred Trump, who is seen as an exploitative land shark.Trump’s political career itself began with the so-called “birther” conspiracy targeting Barack Obama, falsely claiming that the first black US president was not born in the US. During his campaign, Trump called for a “total and complete shutdown” of Muslim immigration, described Mexican immigrants as “rapists” and repeatedly warned against the “southern border”. In that context, the Savage repost seems less distraction than continuity.
