Trump announces he will meet another foreign leader next week: Indian Prime Minister Modi

Top line

Former President Donald Trump said Tuesday he will meet with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to the United States next week, adding to a growing list of foreign leaders Trump has met since becoming the Republican presidential nominee this year.

Former President Trump said he will meet with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi next week.

Getty Images

Key facts

Speaking at a town hall meeting in Flint, Michigan – his first public event since Sunday’s assassination attempt – Trump said Modi was “coming to meet with me next week” and called the Indian leader “fantastic”.

Trump, however, did not provide any details on the date and location of the meeting.

While praising Modi, the former president was critical of India, calling it a “very big abuser” of trade, reiterating his earlier criticism of India’s high tariffs on some US imports.

Modi will travel to the United States next week to attend a summit of the so-called Quad group of nations – which includes the United States, India, Japan and Australia – in Wilmington, Delaware.

The official itinerary of Modi’s trip released by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs does not mention his meeting with Trump.

Get SMS alerts for the latest news from Forbes: We run SMS alerts so you’re always up to date with the biggest stories making headlines today. Text “Alerts” to (201) 335-0739 or register here.

Which other foreign leaders have met with Trump this year?

If the meeting takes place next week, Modi will be the latest in a string of foreign leaders to meet with Trump since he became the Republican presidential nominee. In April, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron met with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida to try to persuade him to support additional military aid to Ukraine. At the time, the British Foreign Office said it was “common practice for ministers to meet with opposition candidates as part of their routine international engagement.” A few weeks later, Polish President Andrzej Duda met with Trump in New York. Duda, who once proposed renaming a military base in his country “Fort Trump,” was praised by the former president, who said he was doing a “fantastic job” and “is my friend.” In July, Trump hosted Hungarian far-right leader Viktor Orban — who appeared to endorse his candidacy — at Mar-a-Lago. During last week’s presidential debate, Trump cited Orban as one of the foreign leaders who respects him, in response to Vice President Harris’ remark that world leaders “make fun” of the former president. Later in July, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — whose relationship with Trump had soured after he congratulated Biden on his 2020 election victory — met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago.

Tangent

Trump, who has previously called India the “tariff king,” has outlined his own plan to use tariffs on imports from countries like China and India, saying: “So we’re going to do two-way trade. If somebody charges us 10 cents, if they charge us $2, if they charge us 100% or $250, we’re going to charge them the same. And what’s going to happen? It’s all going to go away and we’re going to end up having free trade again. And if it doesn’t go away, we’re going to make a lot of money.” Economic experts, however, have warned that widespread tariffs would ultimately raise prices for American customers and trigger inflation.

Top line

Key facts

Which other foreign leaders have met with Trump this year?

Tangent

Further reading