Trump does to Xi what he did to Modi, with a preemptive post
India Today
A familiar pattern is emerging in US President Donald Trump's claims on social media after calls with leaders. Trump posted preemptively on his talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping like he did after a call with Indian PM Narendra Modi. The posts disregarded protocol and facts.
US President Donald Trump has been consistent at least on one thing — preemptive posts. Trampoline Trump wants to be the first to make announcements after talking to readers, factually right or not, mutually decided or not. Chinese President Xi Jinping became the latest leader to get a taste of Trump's preemptive posts, just after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. That divergence was clearly visible as Trump took to Truth Social to post about his telephonic conversation with Xi and the readout by Beijing.
Trump and Xi had what the US President described as an "excellent telephone conversation" on February 4. The US President, in his usual breakneck style, posted on Truth Social about the topics both the presidents had talked about, including discussions on Chinese agreements to purchase American agricultural, aviation and energy products. However, a readout of the talks published by the state-owned Chinese news agency, Xinhua, didn't mention most of what Trump claimed, only stating that Trump "values China's concerns over Taiwan", and that the entire conversation was dominated by Xi.
Trump's latest action following his talks with Xi, is, in many ways, similar to what he did after speaking with PM Modi on Sunday. He went ahead and announced that the India-US trade deal had been finalised.
We had written that despite India and the US yet to ink a proper trade deal, or even announce the conclusion of negotiations for the same, Trump, like a kid jumping up and down on a trampoline, jumped the gun and stated on Truth Social India that New Delhi would stop buying Russian oil, invest in US infrastructure and industrial projects, buy American agricultural goods, and eliminate all tariffs on US imports.
India's Commerce and Industry Minister, Piyush Goyal, said on Thursday that a joint statement on the India-US trade deal would be made "in the next four-five days".
However, Trump's post on the trade deal on Sunday immediately put the Modi government in a spot, giving ample ammunition to many in India who argued that Trump's terms amounted to India "surrendering" to "US bullying". In the absence of any concrete deal to fall back on, Goyal was compelled to post multiple reassurances that any deal, when signed, would be in India's best interests and would not compromise on the welfare of India's farmers by exposing them to US agricultural imports.
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