Illustration: Derek Abella for Bloomberg
Trump’s Bullying of India Is Straight From Xi’s Playbook
By using tariffs as a foreign policy tool, the US president is legitimizing China’s own acts of economic coercion.
In the realm of global geopolitics, it’s hard to get a warmer welcome than Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave Donald Trump back in February 2020. More than 100,000 Indians — many wearing white hats emblazoned with “Namaste, Trump” — packed into a cricket stadium in Gujarat, Modi’s home state in western India. They roared as he greeted Trump along with his wife Melania, daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner.
Trump’s visit showed “the sweetness and intimacy which are the identity of a unified family,” Modi declared. Trump in turn called Modi a “true friend” and India “one of the most amazing nations.” His 27-minute speech had almost 60 breaks for applause.