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‘Natural Warmth’ between Trump and Modi: White House
The goodwill and bonhomie that exists between the two leaders is real which to a certain extent matters in diplomacy, a senior WH official said.
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President Donald J. Trump joins Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in conversation during their visit to the home of Mohandas Gandhi Monday, Feb. 24, 2020, in Ahmedabad, India. / White House Photo by Shealah Craighead
Observing that there is a lot of natural warmth between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump, a senior White House official on Feb. 13 said that goodwill and bonhomie that exists between the two leaders is real which to a certain extent matters in diplomacy.
“With respect to personal relationship, I think there's a lot of natural warmth dating back to President Trump's first term. As you know, they did large public events together, both in the United States, in Houston and in India,” a senior White House official told reporters ahead of the meeting between Trump and Modi at the Oval Office.
“I think the goodwill and bonhomie that exists is real, and to a certain extent that matters in diplomacy. With the Indians hosting the QUAD Leaders Summit in the fall, you could argue that the bilateral connection at the leader level is arguably strongest between the United States and India today, amongst those four parties,” the official said.
QUAD an initiative of Trump in his first term comprises of Australia, India, Japan and the United States. India is scheduled to host the QUAD summit later this fall.
Modi is visiting the U.S. at Trump's invitation. This is the first meeting between the two leaders after President Trump assumed office for his second term.
Responding to a question, the senior official said the Trump Administration envisions a stronger defense partnership as a procurement and moving forward on things like defense exercises.
“On energy, we have the ability to literally power the Indian economy with US energy sales. The President believes both those things can bring down the trade deficit. He wants to make America an energy powerhouse, and those are synergistic with India's desires and needs, frankly,” the official said adding that on technology they will continue to collaborate strategically in a smart fashion.
“In terms of the broader region, there are unique things that President Trump can take credit for, elevating the QUAD, I2U2, which is extension of the Abraham Accords. Then IMEC, this is something both countries are interested in, India, Middle East Europe corridor. We can build good infrastructure together and bring peace and harmony to different parts of the world,” said the official.
“The US India partnership is a significant part of our Pacific strategy that you have seen for nearly a decade as a core part of our national security focus and our approach. That has economic elements, that also has kind of geopolitical elements too. But this is a, some might argue, one of the most critical, if not the most critical, bilateral relationship of the 21st century,” the official said.
“President Trump is going to do his part, I can assure you, to ensure that that remains a foundational element moving forward in this term,” said the official.
Modi visited the USA in June 2017 and hosted Trump for a state visit to India in February 2020. The two leaders have also spoken on the phone twice since November 2024 (06 November 2024 and 27 January 2025).
In early engagement with the new administration, the External Affairs Minister Dr. S Jaishankar represented the Prime Minister at the inauguration ceremony of Trump. During the visit, the External Affairs Minister also met Secretary of State Marco Rubio and participated in the QUAD Foreign Ministers’ meeting.
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