But Trump quickly took aim at the trade imbalance and immigration issues. When Modi visited Washington in February, trade was firmly the focus and they agreed to work toward a limited trade deal by fall 2025, to expand bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030, while India pledged to boost U.S. energy purchases.

Trump described the ceremony at the summit hosted by China "very, very impressive" and "beautiful," and that Chinese Leader Xi Jinping, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin "were hoping I was watching.

The Washington Post also criticized Trump in an editorial titled ‘Trump’s white-knuckling with India could backfire’. The newspaper asserted that tensions with India “don’t supersede shared interest in countering Beijing”.