Trump Calls PM Modi ‘Fantastic’. Praises Indians As ‘Sharpest’ And ‘Top Of Their Game’

Former US President Donald Trump on Tuesday called Prime Minister Narendra Modi ‘fantastic’ and praised Indians as ‘sharpest’ and ‘top of their game.” Trump however further slammed India as “an abuser” on the issue of import tariffs. 

The Republican presidential candidate stated that he will be meeting with PM Modi next week during his three-day visit to the US.

Video: Trump calls Indians ‘sharpest’ 

Trump stated, “So when India, which is a very big abuser. He (Modi) happens to be coming to meet me next week, and Modi, he's fantastic. I mean, fantastic man. A lot of these leaders are fantastic.” 

Speaking at a town hall meeting in Flint, Michigan, Trump spoke on trade and tariffs in response to a question.

“These countries have some of the sharpest minds. They're not behind the curve at all. You know the saying, they're at the top of their game — and they use that to their advantage against us. India is tough, Brazil is tough... but China is the toughest. However, we were handling China with tariffs,” he explained.

He added, “We’re going to implement reciprocal trade policies. If a country charges us 10 cents, USD 2, or even 250 per cent, we’ll charge them the exact same amount. What will happen? Either everything will balance out, leading to free trade again, or we’ll bring in a lot of revenue."