The TOI correspondent from Washington: US President
Donald Trump on Monday said he would be reducing tariffs on India “at some point” because New Delhi had stopped or substantially reduced buying Russian oil.
At an Oval Office ceremony for the swearing in of Sergio Gor as the new ambassador to India, Trump seemed aware of the enormous damage his policies and his approach have caused to bilateral relations, conceding, “So right now, they don't love me, but they'll love us again.”
“We're getting a fair deal, just a fair trade deal. We had pretty unfair trade deals. They had very good negotiators there. We're getting close…I think we're pretty close to doing a deal that's good for everybody,” Trump said, without elaborating on when there will be an agreement and what is holding it up.
His segue from “they've stopped doing the Russian oil” to “it's been reduced very substantially,” in the same breath suggested he is waiting for a certain level of reduction of Russian oil purchases with a concurrent uptick in purchase of U.S energy before he signs off on the deal.
Unusually, Trump hosted Gor’s oath taking in the Oval Office, the ceremony attended by a phalanx of MAGA luminaries, some of whom had nothing to do with the India portfolio. Several liberal commentators savaged the event, calling it “creepy” “obsequious” and “Stalinesque” as several speakers, invited by Trump to make remarks, flattered him with what one observer called “North Korea level” sycophancy, with very little reference to India.
Trump himself held forth on various other issues, including the government shutdown and ties with Syria, after brief boilerplate remarks on Gor’s mission to India.
Asserting that he (Trump) has a “fantastic” relationship with Prime Minister Modi, the U.S President called India “an important economic and strategic security partner in the Indo-Pacific region,” even though, from all accounts, he has diminished the partnership with punitive tariffs on India (as compared to China and Pakistan) and his shoddy treatment of Quad, a group whose mission was to counter China’s influence in the region.
“It (India) is an amazing country. Actually, 1.5 billion people. China is 1.4 billion. Those are two big countries. As Ambassador, Sergio will work to fortify our country's bond, promote investments in key industries and technologies, increase American energy exports and expand our security cooperation. And you know, we're making a deal with India, a much different deal, than we had in the past,” Trump said, having virtually ceded a co-equal peer position to China with repeated references to G-2 over the past fortnight.
He said he was trusting Gor to strengthen “ one of our country's most important international relations, the strategic partnership with India,” adding “being the ambassador to India is a big deal.”
Vice-president JD Vance, who formally administered the oath to Gor as per protocol, also tried to put some gloss on the damaged ties, saying, Gor would be a great ambassador to India, “which the President and I love.”
Bizarrely, Trump said Gor has already become friendly with PM Modi, and knowing that he is going to be the ambassador “they would call constantly to say, let's get to know this man, and they like what they see.”
“So I know you're going to have a great success over this,” he told Gor.
The presence of a large number of MAGA luminaries was also a testament to Gor’s proximity to the President and his popularity and influence in the administration, prompting Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who would technically be his boss, to say, “it looks like there are 1.5 billion people in the Oval Office today.”
Among those who spoke glowingly of Gor when they veered off from flattering Trump was former TV host Jeanine Pirro, attorney general for Washington DC, and Erika Kirk, widow of slain MAGA activist, Charlie Kirk.