The US president is said to have joked about playing “matchmaker” to Narendra Modi ahead of the latter’s meeting with Donald Trump at the White House last year, Politico reported quoting an unidentified White House official.
This “diplomatic faux pas” came when Trump’s aides told him that the Indian prime minister would be travelling alone to the meeting as he was estranged from his wife.
“Ah, I think I can set him up with somebody,” Trump is believed to have said.
The report also claimed that Trump wasn’t familiar with the countries surrounding India. While examining a map of South Asia, Trump called Nepal “nipple” and Bhutan “button”, the report said, adding that the president did not know these nations existed.
“He didn’t know what those were. He thought it was all part of India. He was like, ‘What is this stuff in between and these other countries?’” a source told Politico.
Trump and Modi are said to have a warm relationship, and according to an earlier The Washington Post report, Trump is known to imitate an Indian accent and imitate Modi.
In the spring of 2016, the US president also used an Indian accent to mock a call centre representative in India.
Trump, at the time, claimed he called up his credit card company to find out whether their customer support is based in the US or overseas.
“Guess what, you’re talking to a person from India. How the hell does that work?” he told his supporters in Delaware.
“So I called up, under the guise I’m checking on my card, I said, ‘Where are you from?’
“‘We are from India’,” said Trump, impersonating the response.
“Oh great, that’s wonderful. India is great place. I am not upset with other leaders. I am upset with our leaders for being so stupid.”
