Speaking about US-India trade talks, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed on Tuesday (4th November) that US President Donald Trump often speaks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. She added that the “US President and his trade team continue to be in very serious discussions” with India. “I know the President has great respect for Prime Minister Modi, and they speak pretty frequently,” said Leavitt, responding to a media query about US-India trade ties.
Watch: When asked about the US President’s views on the future of India-US relations, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, says, "I think he feels very positive and strongly about it. As you know, he recently a few weeks back spoke to Prime Minister directly when he… pic.twitter.com/OCqJdPkQGz
— IANS (@ians_india) November 4, 2025
“The President is positive and feels very strongly about the India-US relationship,” said Leavitt, highlighting that President Trump recently spoke with Modi during Diwali celebrations at the Oval Office. “So I know the president has great respect for Prime Minister Modi, and they speak pretty frequently,” she added.
Leavitt’s claims come weeks after India denied that any conversation relating to India-US trade took place between President Trump and PM Modi. India refuted Trump’s claims that PM Modi assured him about not buying Russian oil over a phone call. Addressing the media, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said last month that he was not aware of any such conversation taking place between the two leaders.
The US-India trade ties went cold after Trump imposed bizarre trade tariffs on India for buying Russian oil. After assuming office for the second time this year, Trump implemented his much-criticised reciprocal trade tariffs on almost all US trade partners, including India and China. Trump initially imposed 25% tariffs on India in April this year, and imposed another 25% tariffs in August, making the cumulative US tariffs on India 50%. Trump has been facing a lot of criticism, globally as well as domestically, for kick-starting a global trade war with his reciprocal tariffs. He received flak for selectively imposing blatantly unfair tariffs on India for buying Russian oil and sparing China, while the latter continues to be the biggest importer of Russian oil. In August this year, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit declared Trump’s tariffs illegal and said that the US President exceeded his power in imposing the sweeping tariffs.
India and the US resumed trade negotiations in September this year, following a brief period of tariff induced lull. This was the first time after Trump’s 50% tariffs against India took effect on August 27, 2025, that Indian and US officials met in New Delhi to hold resume discussions on India-US trade relations. However, India has been denying any direct talks between the US President and PM Modi regarding trade relations between the two countries since the US tariffs came into effect. India has defended its decision to fulfill its energy requirement from Russia without succumbing to the US pressure tactics.
