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Hours after President Trump paved the way for upending the United States\u2019 trade relationship with India with broad \u201creciprocal\u201d tariffs, he and Prime Minister Narendra Modi presented a united front during a news conference on Thursday at the White House.<\/p>\n
Mr. Modi became the latest head of state to seek to placate an increasingly power-flexing Mr. Trump by trying to accommodate his demands \u2014 even as Mr. Trump\u2019s promised tariffs hung over the White House meeting. Mr. Modi heaped praise on Mr. Trump, using his motto \u201cMake America Great Again\u201d in English, despite mostly speaking through a translator, and applying the motto to India. \u201cMake India Great Again,\u201d Mr. Modi crowed.<\/p>\n
The warm greetings also extended to Elon Musk, the constant Trump companion barreling through the federal government as the head of an initiative to reshape and cut down the federal government: The two had a meeting and photo op. Mr. Musk, the wealthiest man in the world, owns a number of companies, including Starlink, a high-speed internet service, that have sought to make an entry in India.<\/p>\n
All the flattery concealed a number of tensions between the two nations, including on two of Mr. Trump\u2019s signature issues, trade and immigration. Mr. Trump hinted at the biggest thorn when he said at the news conference that the United States had a nearly $100 billion trade deficit with India, though he inflated the number \u2014 in 2024, the figure was nearly $50 billion.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Just hours earlier, Mr. Trump had directed his advisers to devise new tariff levels<\/a> for countries around the world that take into account a range of trade barriers and other economic approaches adopted by America\u2019s trading partners. India is among the nations that could face particularly significant consequences from the tariffs.<\/p>\n At the news conference, Mr. Trump said that he had toyed with that idea during his first term, and noted that he could not get India to lower tariffs against the United States then. Now, \u201cwe\u2019re just going to say, \u2018whatever you charge, we charge,\u2019\u201d Mr. Trump said.<\/p>\n \u201cI think that\u2019s fair for the people of the United States,\u201d Mr. Trump said. \u201cAnd I think it\u2019s actually fair for India.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite the looming economic punishment, Mr. Modi opened his remarks by saying he was focusing on doubling bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030 and \u201cconcluding very soon a mutually beneficial trade agreement\u201d with the United States.<\/p>\n Mr. Modi also said that India and the United States would create a framework for defense cooperation for the next decade and added that the two countries would also collaborate to develop semiconductors, quantum technology and artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Even on an issue that has infuriated some of his constituents in India, Mr. Modi sought to placate Mr. Trump. At one point, Mr. Modi was asked about a U.S. military plane filled with migrants from India that the United States sent<\/a> to the Indian state of Punjab last week.<\/p>\n Video posted by a top U.S. border official showed migrants in shackles, and prompted outrage in India.<\/p>\n Mr. Modi made no acknowledgment of that. \u201cWe are of the opinion that anybody who enters another country illegally, they have absolutely no right to be in that country,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Earlier in the afternoon, Mr. Trump met with Mr. Modi in the Oval Office, joined by some of the president\u2019s cabinet secretaries. The two leaders sat in chairs, fielding questions from reporters.<\/p>\n Mr. Modi and Mr. Trump have enjoyed a generally friendly relationship. Mr. Modi welcomed Mr. Trump with an enormous rally during a presidential visit to India during Mr. Trump\u2019s first term.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Before Mr. Trump and Mr. Modi met, the Indian prime minister sat down with Mr. Musk.<\/p>\n Mr. Modi shared photos on Mr. Musk\u2019s social media site, X, that underscored Mr. Musk\u2019s power within the Trump administration: The billionaire sat in front of an American flag next to the prime minister and the Indian flag, the kind of pose usually struck by a head of state and that Mr. Trump himself has assumed in recent weeks. Mr. Musk was accompanied by Shivon Zilis, who is a longtime adviser and the mother to some of his children, as well as three of his children, who appeared to exchange gifts with Mr. Modi.<\/p>\n At the news conference, Mr. Modi said he had known Mr. Musk for some time.<\/p>\n It was Mr. Trump\u2019s fourth visit from a foreign leader in rapid succession in the past few weeks, as he approaches foreign policy with an expansionist mind-set and a firm desire to push other countries to reimburse the United States for its military spending. He had already met with the leaders of Israel, Japan and Jordan.<\/p>\n Theodore Schleifer contributed reporting.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n