Mr. Trump caused controversy when sharing content likening India to ‘hell’

US President Donald Trump on April 22 re-shared on Truth Social a 4-page podcast report by Michael Savage, a conservative political commentator, criticizing the right to enjoy US citizenship if a person is born in this place. Mr. Trump did not write any further comments, only attached the video of the Savage Nation program broadcast on NEWSMAX.

The podcast mainly targets the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), but there are some accusations that immigrants, including Indians, do not like to hire Americans and do not have enough English skills.

The most controversial part of the report is Savage’s statement: “A child born here immediately becomes a citizen, then they bring the entire family here from China or India or some other hell on this planet.”

Mr. Trump’s post immediately faced harsh reactions from many individuals and organizations in the US and India. Indian-American Congressman Ami Bera called Mr. Trump’s re-sharing of Savage’s comments “insulting, ignorant and unworthy of his position”.

The Hindu American Foundation expressed “shock at the hateful and racist content” targeting people of Indian and Chinese descent re-shared by President Trump on his personal account. This organization warns of the risk that this action will increase hatred in American society, which is at its “highest level ever.”

“President Trump needs to reconsider, delete the post and recognize the undeniable contributions from the Asian American community to the country,” the Hindu American Foundation urged.

The National Congress Party (INC) in India posted a rebuttal on X, saying that Mr. Trump’s sharing actions were “seriously insulting and anti-Indian” and called on the government to react strongly. Congress party leader Supriya Srinate objected to calling India a “hell on earth”, as well as the way the US President once referred to Indians as “laptop gangsters” in arguments to the US Supreme Court to consider revoking the right to enjoy US citizenship if born in the US.

On April 23, India’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spoke up about recent controversial comments, but did not directly mention President Trump. Spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said the comments about Indians in the US were “clearly ignorant, inappropriate and offensive”.

“These comments do not reflect the reality of India-US relations, which have long been based on mutual respect and the interests the two countries share,” Mr. Jaiswal said.

Meanwhile, the US embassy in New Delhi on the same day issued a message affirming that US leaders always consider India “a great country and have a very good friend as its leader”, referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.