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CNN International: Trump and Modi Meets at White House; Firing at Federal Agencies Underway; Trump Announces Plan for Reciprocal Tariffs; Trump and Modi Speaking at the WH. Aired 6-7p ET
Aired February 13, 2025 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[18:00:00]
JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: -- on the list includes Steph Curry, LeBron James, and, of course, the MVP of the Super Bowl, Jalen Hurts, the quarterback of my beloved Philadelphia Eagles. The parade is tomorrow in Philly.
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ISABEL ROSALES, CNN ANCHOR: Just ahead, President Trump and Indian Prime Minister Modi meet at the White House. Tit-for-tat tariffs. Donald Trump announces his plan for reciprocal tariffs. on U.S. trading partners. Sporting riches, the highest earning athletes of 2024 are revealed.
We begin with a day of high-level diplomacy and fast-moving trade developments in our nation's capital, Washington, D.C. President Trump meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House this hour on the same day that he announced plans for sweeping reciprocal tariffs on U.S. trading partners like India.
The tariffs will take effect no earlier than April 1st, giving countries time to negotiate with the U.S. Trump said he will be talking about trade with Modi, among other things.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: We have, I think, some very big things to talk about. Number one is they're going to be purchasing a lot of our oil and gas. We have more oil and gas than any other country in the world, by far. And they need it and we have it. And we we're going to talk about trade. We're going to talk about many things. But it's really an honor to see you. And you have been my friend for a long time. And congratulations on having done a great job.
(END VIDEO CLIP) ROSALES: President Trump on Thursday also commenting on a wide range of issues, including Russia's war in Ukraine. He says Ukraine will have a seat at the negotiating table when and if peace talks take place. He also wants Russia back in the G7 group of nations, and wants a summit with China and Russia to drastically reduce defense spending.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: One of the first meetings I want to have is with President Xi of China, President Putin of Russia. And I want to say, let's cut our military budget in half. And we can do that. And I think we'll be able to do it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROSALES: All this as the Trump administration moves once again to drastically reduce the federal workforce. Sources tell CNN that firings have begun at two federal agencies, the Department of Education and the Small Business Administration.
Stephen Collinson joins me and boy, it's been a busy day in the Capitol. Let's start with Ukraine. Trump said that Ukraine would have a seat at the table in negotiations with Russia. What do you make of that?
STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN POLITICS SENIOR REPORTER: Well, this came after a real gale of criticism from Europe about his call with President Vladimir Putin a day ago, in which he basically, you know, gave into quite a lot of Russia's demands for the ending of the war, including the fact that there will be no path to NATO membership for Ukraine, also the fact that there will be no U.S. troops taking part in any post-peacekeeping force in Ukraine. That angered a lot of allies in Europe.
And to some extent, I think this is rowing it back a little bit, but I don't think it changes the fundamental facts here that it looks like Trump wants to impose a peace on Ukraine, which is going to be a lot closer to Putin's terms than those of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
ROSALES: OK. And we are keeping an eye here on the Modi-Trump press conference that is expected soon. In the meantime, we also heard from President Trump that he wants Russia back in the G7, but any change to that G7 configuration would require consensus by the group's leaders. So, what happens next? Is this just talk?
COLLINSON: I don't think that consensus is anywhere near being able to come into being just because of the membership of the G20 -- the G7, you know, it would have to vote for it in a G7 meeting. The Europeans won't be in favor. It's possible that Trump could get the Japanese, with whom he has a very good relationship, to weigh into this. I think this might be something that could be on the table as leverage in the Ukraine peace talks.
But the president said that if Russia had been in the G8, it wouldn't have invaded Ukraine. Of course, this doesn't make a lot of sense because it was in the G8, and in 2014 it invaded Crimea, annexed Crimea, part of Ukraine and then it was kicked out of the group.
ROSALES: I'm so sorry to interrupt, Stephen. That press conference is happening now. Let's listen in on that.
[18:05:00]
TRUMP: Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Please. Great honor. I'm thrilled to welcome the prime minister of India, my friend, Narendra Modi, back to the White House. We spent a lot of time here and a lot of time in India, and he's a very special man.
Prime Minister, it is a pleasure to extend to you the same hospitality that you showed Melania and myself when we traveled to your beautiful country five years ago. It's hard to believe it's so long ago, and it seemed like yesterday. It was beautiful. We opened the cricket stadium, 129,000 seats. I think the largest stadium in the world. And it was an incredible period of time.
There is truly a special bond between the United States and India. And the world's oldest democracy and the world's largest democracy. And I believe the world's largest country in terms of the numbers of people.
And today, the prime minister and I are announcing a framework to strengthen those ties even further economically, and the U.S.-India compact for the 21st century is a historic initiative that will deepen every aspect of our partnership and our friendship.
Starting this year, we'll be increasing military sales to India by many billions of dollars. We're also paving the way to ultimately provide India with the F-35 stealth fighters. In 2017, my administration revived and reinvigorated the Quad Security Partnership. In our meeting today, the prime minister and I reaffirmed that strong cooperation among the United States, India, Australia, and Japan, and its crucial really to maintaining peace and prosperity, tranquility, even in the Indo-Pacific.
In addition, the United States and India will be working together like never before to confront the threat of radical Islamic terrorism, a threat all over the world, actually. Today, I'm pleased to announce that my administration has approved the extradition of one of the plotters and one of the very evil people of the world. And having to do with the horrific 2008 Mumbai terrorist attack to face justice in India. So, he's going to be -- going back to India to face justice.
As we deepen our defense partnership, we'll also strengthen our economic ties and bring greater fairness and reciprocity to our trading relationship. As a signal of good faith, Prime Minister Modi recently announced the reductions to India's unfair, very strong tariffs that limit U.S. access into the Indian market very strongly. And really, it's a big problem, I must say.
India imposes a 30 to 40 to 60 and even 70 percent tariff on so many of the goods. And in some cases, far more than that. And as an example, a 70 percent tariff on U.S. cars going into India, which makes it pretty much impossible to sell those cars. Today, the U.S. trade deficit with India is almost $100 billion. And Prime Minister Modi and I have agreed that we'll be in negotiations to address the long running disparities that should have been taken care of over the last four years, but they didn't do that in the U.S.-India trading relationship with the goal of a signing an agreement and we want -- really, we want a certain level playing field what do we really think we're entitled to, and he does also in fairness. So, we're going to work on that very hard and we can make up the difference very easily with the deficit and with the sale of oil and gas, LNG, of which we have more than anybody in the world.
The prime minister and I also reached an important agreement on energy that will restore the United States as a leading supplier of oil and gas to India. It will be, hopefully, their number one supplier. And the groundbreaking development for U.S. nuclear industry. India is also reforming its laws to welcome U.S. nuclear technology, which is at the highest level, into the Indian market. This will bring safe, clean, and affordable electricity to millions of Indians and tens of billions of dollars to the U.S. civilian nuclear industry in India.
And under the framework, we are announcing today, the United States and India are also joining forces to ensure that artificial intelligence and other advanced technologies are developed by the two of the most -- really two of the most advanced nations intellectually and otherwise technologically anywhere in the world. There's nobody very much closer.
[18:10:00]
We have an incredible relationship there, and those are -- this is where it seems to be heading. And artificial intelligence complex -- a very complex subject, but it seems to be where people want to be and they want to go and we're leading right now by a lot, but other people will try to catch us. I don't know if they're going to be able to. We're going to make it available.
We're going to make tremendous amounts of electricity available. We're going to let the people that are buying the electricity make their own electric plants, electric generation plants. And we've never done this in our country, but we're going to get it done very quickly. Lee Zeldin and his group are going to get the approvals in very rapid form, and we're calling it a national emergency, and that's exactly what it is.
So, we're going to be -- we're going to remain at the top of the A.I. or artificial intelligence, I think, for a long time to come. And we're going to be working very closely with India and other countries on that. But right now, we're the leader by quite a bit.
Finally, we agreed to work together to help build one of the greatest trade routes in all of history. It will run from India to Israel to Italy and onward to the United States, connecting our partners by ports, railways, and undersea cables. Many, many undersea cables. It's a big development. It's a lot of money going to be spent and we've already spent some, but we're going to be spending a lot more in order to stay advanced and stay the leader. I'm pleased to report that with today's announcements, the friendship between the United States and India is the strongest I believe it's ever been. I think our relationship is the best it's ever been between two leaders of the two countries. And it's an honor to say that I'd like to now invite the prime minister to say a few words and then we'll take some questions, and we appreciate you all being here. Thank you very much. very much.
NARENDRA MODI, INDIAN PRIME MINISTER (through translator): Your Excellency, President Trump, delegates of both countries, friends from the media, namaskar.
I would like to, first of all, express my heartfelt gratitude to my dear friend, President Trump, for the grand welcome and hospitality afforded to me.
President Trump's leadership has been instrumental in nurturing India- U.S. ties and making them vibrant. I could feel today the same enthusiasm, the same energy, the same commitment that we had worked with during our first term.
Our discussions today highlighted our pride in our accomplishments during his first term the deep mutual trust that we share and also the resolve to attain new goals. We also agreed that the partnership and cooperation between India and the U.S. can shape a better world.
Friends, the people of America are aware of President Trump's motto, Make America Great Again or MAGA, the people of America are well aware of it. The people of India, too, are focusing on both heritage and development as they move forward at a fast pace and with a firm resolve to ensure a developed India by 2047.
If I were to say this, borrowing an expression from America, our vision for a developed India is to Make India Great Again, or MIGA. When America and India work together, that is, when MAGA -- when it's MAGA plus MIGA, it becomes MEGA, a MEGA partnership for prosperity.
[18:15:00]
And it is this MEGA spirit that gives new scale and scope to our objectives. Friends, today, we have also set ourselves the target of more than doubling our bilateral trade to attain $500 billion by 2030. Our teams will work on concluding very soon a mutually beneficial trade agreement in order to ensure India's energy security.
We will focus on trade in oil and gas, investment in energy infrastructure will also increase in the area of nuclear energy. We also discussed increasing cooperation on small modular reactors. Friends, America plays an important role in India's defense preparedness. As strategic and trusted partners we are moving forward actively towards joint development, joint production and transfer of technology.
In the times to come as well, new technologies and equipment will enhance our capacities. We have decided to launch the Autonomous Systems Industry Alliance and a defense cooperation framework for the next decade will be prepared. Defense interoperability, logistics, repair, and maintenance will also be its key components.
Friends, the 21st century is a technology-driven century. Close cooperation in the area of technology between countries that believe in democratic values can give new direction, strength. and opportunities to the entire humanity.
India and the U.S. will jointly work in areas of artificial intelligence, semiconductors, quantum, biotechnology, and several other technologies.
Today, we also agreed on TRUST, which stands for Transforming Relationships Utilizing Strategic Technology. Under this, our focus will be on establishing strong supply chains for critical minerals, advanced materials, and pharmaceuticals.
We have also decided to launch a recovery and processing initiative for strategic minerals like lithium and rare earths.
We have had close cooperation with the U.S. in the area of space. The NISAR satellite developed with mutual cooperation between Israel and NASA will soon be flying into space on an Indian launch vehicle. Friends, partnership between India and the U.S. strengthens democracy and strengthens democratic values and systems.
We will work together to enhance peace, stability, and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific. The Quad will play a special role in this.
[18:20:00]
During the Quad Summit, scheduled to be held in India this year, we will expand cooperation in new areas with our partner countries. Under the IMEC and I2U2 we will work together for the development of economic corridors and in the area of connectivity. India and U.S. will stand strongly together in the fight against terrorism.
We agree that in order to eliminate cross border terrorism, we need concrete actions. And I'm very grateful to President Trump that he, in 2008, somebody who carried out genocide in India, that criminal is now going to be handed over to India, and I'm grateful to President Trump for this, and appropriate action will be taken in the courts in India.
Friends, the Indian community living in the U.S. is an important link in our relations. In order to further deepen our people to people ties, India will soon open new consulates in Los Angeles and Boston. These will be new consulates. We have invited American universities and educational institutes to open their offshore campuses in India.
President Trump, I am grateful to you for your friendship and strong commitment towards India. The people of India still fondly remember your visit in 2020 and hope that President Trump will come and visit them again.
On behalf of 1.4 billion Indians, I invite you to visit India. Thank you. Thank you very much.
TRUMP: Thank you very much. OK. Thank you very much. That was excellent. We'll do a few questions, please. Please, go ahead. Please, go ahead. Yes. Yes. Blue shirt.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, Mr. President. People in India will naturally welcome your decision to extradite Tahawwur Rana to India back home. In that context, I'd like to ask you a question about, in last few years, we have seen several groups in the U.S. being raising anti-India voice, calling about separation, terrorism activities in India. Do you think that should continue here in the U.S. as well?
TRUMP: You're going to have to go louder.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, people in India would be welcoming your decision to extradite Tahawwur Rana to --
TRUMP: I can't understand a word he's saying.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: May I, sir? May I? May I, sir?
TRUMP: Go ahead, back there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, thank you. First, I want to ask the prime minister a question. You and the president, you both spoke about combating ISIS. You both sounded very exciting about this -- excited about this partnership upcoming. And I was curious. How much more confident are you with President Trump leading this country that there will be peace through strength and you will have a successful partnership with the United States versus with Biden's incompetence and weakness over the last four years?
TRUMP: That's your question, but I'll answer it. I agree with you. Yes, gross incompetence. We're going to have a fantastic relationship and it has been -- look, the whole world's been set back over the last four years by the weakness of the United States, the weak leadership of the United States. But I think we've taken care of it in just three weeks.
It seems to me that even some of the media that we wouldn't prefer has been writing that this is a much different country right now, that the world has a light over it. Not only our country, but the whole world. The prime minister told me that before too, even over India, the world has a light. They need the United States to be strong and powerful, but good. And I think that's happened -- and I think it's happened in a very short period of time. But I will tell you, we're going to have a fantastic relationship, and it'll make both countries much stronger.
[18:25:00]
Yes, go ahead, please.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. Gita Mohan (ph)from India Today, sir. I'll just take my colleague Lalit Jha's (ph) question forward because you couldn't --
TRUMP: OK. Fine.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The question is about the fact that you've decided to extradite Tahawwur Rana, thank you so much. India has been waiting to have him back in India to bring him to justice, but there are many other elements in the United States of America, particularly Khalistani separatists who have been working against Indian interests. How is the United States of America going to cooperate on that front with India? There are -- there have been allegations that have been leveled against Indian agencies by the Biden administration. Are you going to relook that with Tulsi Gabbard as DNI now?
TRUMP: Well, I don't think India had a very good relationship with the Biden administration. Biden -- they wouldn't sell them oil and gas, which is rather hard to believe because, you know, it's a good thing to do. And a lot of things happened that weren't very appropriate, I thought, between India and the administration, the Biden administration.
But as you said, we're giving a very violent man, it seems to me. I mean, I don't know that he's been convicted yet or will be. But let's assume he's a pretty violent person, we're giving him back to India immediately. And there are more to follow because we have quite a few requests. So, we work with India on crime and we want to make it good for India. And it's very important. So, that kind of a relationship is very important to us. OK.
Go ahead, please. Go ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you. Mr. President, you've repeatedly called India a big abuser of trade, and said it is really difficult to do business in India because of tariffs. You announced reciprocal tariffs today. I am hoping you can speak about what kind of reciprocal tariffs India can expect. Are you willing to make any concessions and how can India head off these tariffs? I also have one for the prime minister.
TRUMP: Well, India's been, to us, just about the highest tariffed nation anywhere in the world. They've been very strong on tariffs, and I don't blame them necessarily, but it's a different way of doing business. It's very hard to sell into India because they have trade barriers, very strong tariffs.
We are right now a reciprocal nation. We are going to -- if it's India or if it's somebody else with low tariffs, we're going to have the same. We're going to have whatever India charges, we're charging them. Whatever another country charges, we're charging them. So, it's called reciprocal, which I think is a very fair way.
We didn't have that. We -- I was going to do that in my other term and we had the greatest economy ever in the world. There's never been an economy like we had. And then we got hit with COVID. We had to focus on that. And I wasn't really in the mood to be putting it on Italy and Spain and France and India, frankly, and a lot of other countries because the world was very troubled until we got rid of that nightmare.
But we had the strongest economy anywhere in the world during that fairly long period of time during my first term, as you know. And we didn't do the tariffs. We would have done the reciprocal tariffs. But we decided -- and I decided, I think on a human basis, on a humane basis, not to do them because of the fact that there was such suffering all over the world.
The last thing we needed to talk about is trade problems. But now we do. We're doing -- we see a tremendous future for our country, but we felt that now it's finally time, after 45 or 50 years of abuse, that we will do -- and this isn't India, this is among a lot of nations. The European Union is very difficult for us. Very, very difficult. They tax our companies at levels that nobody's ever seen before. They take advantage of a lot of things. So, we're not happy about that.
China, of course, is terrible. And we've never taken in 10 cents until I was president. We've taken in hundreds of billions of dollars from China since I've been president in first term and now, and we have to do that just as a mechanism of fairness, and that's what I've done. And so, we are being reciprocal with India, whatever India charges we charge them. So, frankly, it no longer matters to us that much what they charge because whatever they charge.
I had discussions with India and the first term about the fact that their tariffs were very high, and I was unable to get a concession. So, we're just going to do it the easy way, and we're just going to say, whatever you charge, we charge. And I think that's fair for the people of the United States. And I think it's actually fair for India. OK.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you willing to make any concession, sir? Any concessions?
TRUMP: Go ahead, please. As to the prime minister, please.
[18:30:00]
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A question to the prime minister, please.
TRUMP: As to the prime minister, please.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Sorry. Yoshita Singh (ph) with Press Trust of India. Prime Minister -- Thank you, Mr. President. Prime Minister, the U.S. is giving a lot of push to curb illegal immigration, and India has been cooperating on this issue. How does India see this issue in the larger context? Thank you.
MODI (through translator): I don't think this is a question that is about India only, but even globally, you can talk about this issue. And we are of the opinion that anybody who enters another country illegally, they have absolutely no right to be in that country. And as far as India and the U.S. is concerned, we have always been of the same opinion, and that is that any verified Indian who is in the U.S. illegally, we are fully prepared to take them back to India.
However, it doesn't stop there. These are children of very ordinary families, and they are lured by big dreams and big promises. A lot of them are brought in without them knowing about why they're going to a country. And in fact, they are connected with a human trafficking system. And we have to make sure that we fight against this system.
As far as the U.S. and India is concerned, I think what we should do is make efforts to make sure that we uproot these from within the system so that we can reduce or remove human trafficking. And basically, the young, vulnerable, poor people of India are fooled into coming over as illegal immigrants.
And our bigger fight actually is against this ecosystem or this system that encourages such gangs to thrive. And I can tell you that India will completely support your endeavor. In achieving this.
TRUMP: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you. Thank you, Mr. President. A question for Prime Minister Modi first, if I may. I wanted to ask you, did you discuss any possible business deals with Elon Musk during your meetings today, Mr. Prime Minister? And, Mr President, I wanted to ask you, today you spoke about hoping to have three-way talks with President Xi and President Putin, but what would you say to European leaders and other allies who may be concerned that your apparently more keen to speak to America's adversaries than to its allies? Thank you.
TRUMP: Maybe I'll just go in first on this one. We had some talks and we told the European Union, we told the NATO people, largely they overlap. You have to pay more money because it's unfair what we're doing. We're doing a tremendous amount more. We're probably $200 billion dollars more going into Ukraine, using for Ukraine to fight, and Europe has not really carried its weight in terms of the money. It's not equitable. And we want to see a counterbalance. We want to have them Put up more money. They have to do that.
At the same time, we had a very good conversation with President Putin the other day, yesterday, and we also had a very good conversation -- I did both, in both cases, with President Zelenskyy. And I think we're going to be able to do something. I think we're going to be able to make a deal. And I hope so, because it's a horrible war, it's a very terrible, bloody war with a million and a half soldiers at least already dead on the battlefield, lying all over the fields, it's like nobody's ever seen anything like it since -- certainly since the Second World War.
And so, I think we're going to be able to do something. We're working with President Zelenskyy and with President Putin. And my impression is that they -- I know that President Zelenskyy wants to make a deal and I also feel that -- I know that President Putin wants to make a deal. I wanted to know that before I began any detailed discussions.
But the meeting and the conversation -- also, the meeting with Steve Witkoff in Moscow was a very successful one, and my phone call with him was a very successful one. Please.
[18:35:00]
MODI (through translator): You asked a question regarding Elon Musk. I have known him for a very long time. I was not even a prime minister at the time when I first met him. I was chief minister. And today, he came to meet me along with all his family, with his children. And so, we had a nice discussion. As far as the EV is concerned -- EVs are concerned, the EV -- the word EV has a copyright and that is -- one person who has a copyright for the word EV, and that is Trump.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, Mr. President. Can I ask whether you discussed at all today the case of Gautam Adani, who's one of the wealthiest men in Asia and perceived as an ally of Prime Minister Modi? Prime Minister Modi, have you asked the president to take action on that case? Thank you.
MODI (through translator): Firstly, India is a democratic country and our culture and our thought, philosophy is Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, which basically means that the entire world is a family. Every Indian is my own family member.
And when it comes to such personal matters, two leaders of two countries will not get together on that topic and discuss anything on an individual matter.
TRUMP: Go ahead, please. Yes, please. Sir, go ahead, please.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, Mr. Prime Minister. I have a question for you as well. But, Mr. President, you have suggested with regards to the Russia-Ukraine war, you've suggested several things that Ukraine should give up the idea of NATO membership territory that was seized back in 2014 by Russia. What should Russia give up?
TRUMP: Russia has gotten themselves into something that I think they wish they didn't. If I were president, it would not have happened, absolutely would not have happened. And it didn't happen for four years.
If you look at what has taken place under President Bush, they lost a lot. Under President Obama, they lost Crimea. Under Biden, it looks like they could lose the whole thing. Under Trump, they lost nothing. Ukraine lost nothing. They didn't give up anything. And you take a look at the other three presidents surrounding me, they gave up a lot.
I think that when you look at Ukraine and when you look at the mess that they're in it's got to be ended and it's got to be stopped.
Now, Russia's taken over a pretty big chunk of territory. And they also have said from day one, long before President Putin, they've said they cannot have Ukraine be a NATO. They said that very strongly. I actually think that that was the thing that caused the start of the war. And Biden said it, and Zelenskyy said it, and I think that was one of the reasons, one of the starts of the war.
But from -- long before Putin, they said, you cannot have Ukraine going, in any way, into NATO. And I start from that standpoint. I think everybody knew that. Now, if a better deal can be negotiated, if they're able to make a deal where they can do, that's fine with me. I really don't care.
I want that bloodshed to stop. I don't want to see -- you know, we have an ocean between us and the site we're talking about, the site of death. We're calling it the fields of death. We have a big ocean in between us. This is more important for Europe. We shouldn't be in. They have to equalize. And they're going to have to do it fast, but they have to equalize.
But as far as the negotiation, it's too early to say what's going to happen. Maybe Russia will give up a lot, maybe they won't. And it's all dependent on what is going to happen. The negotiation really hasn't started. But I will say, as far as NATO is concerned, from many years before President Putin, I will tell you that I've heard that Russia would never accept that, and I think Ukraine knew that, because Ukraine wasn't in and never requested to be in until more recently. So that's the way it is, and I think that's the way it's going to have to be.
Go ahead, please. All right. Go ahead, please, with the tie. With the tie, yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President --
TRUMP: Yes, go ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- this is Saurabh Shukla (ph) from News Mobile. Mr. President, you spoke about Prime Minister Modi as a tough negotiator. Who was a tougher negotiator today, and who has a better negotiating tactic when it comes to tariffs?
TRUMP: Oh, he's a much tougher negotiator than me, and he's a much better negotiator than me. There's not even a contest. OK?
[18:40:00]
Yes, go ahead, please. Go ahead. Go ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Reena Bardwad (ph) from ANI. How do you see this relationship between the India and the United States to counter China? And what is your vision when it comes to India, you know, brokering peace in the Ukraine and Russia conflict?
TRUMP: Well, I think we're going to have a very good relationship with China. I got along with President Xi very well until COVID. That was a bridge too far. But until then, I got along with President Xi very well. We were very close as leaders go. I don't want to be naive, but as leaders go, I think we were very close.
And I think that China is a very important player in the world. I think they can help us get this war over with Ukraine and Russia. And I look at India, I do see the skirmishes on the border, which are quite vicious. And I guess they continue to go on. If I could be of help, I'd love to help because that should be stopped. That's been going on for a long time and it's quite violent, it's quite violent.
But I would hope that China and India and Russia and U.S. and all of us can get along. It's very important. You know, the power of weaponry today is, and not only nuclear, but nuclear in particular, the power of weaponry is very important. I said before that I had very constructive talks in my first term with President Putin about the denuclearization of the two countries and then we were going to go to China after we worked some kind of a deal, and we had the confines of a deal. We were -- I thought -- he really wanted to do it, so did I, denuclearize.
And it's so -- it's such a beautiful term when you think about it. In other words, to bring it down because the power of those weapons is too great. And I did speak to President Xi about that, and I was getting also a very good response. He's building a very strong nuclear power. He's not very close to Russia or the United States right now, but he will be soon. I mean, he'll catch up over the period of four or five years, they say. But it would be a great thing if we could, on a military basis.
We're going to spend this year nine hundred -- let's say $915 dollars on military. Russia, without the war, was spending close to a hundred, but with the war, I can't tell you what they're spending, but they're spending a lot. And China's spending $400 and $450 billion. We're over $900. And I said, you know, it doesn't really make sense, does it? We're spending the money against each other. And we could spend that money for better purpose if we got along.
And I'll tell you, I think that something like that will happen. First, when I left, as you know, four years ago, we didn't have Israel and the Middle East, we didn't have October 7th, a disaster, the disaster. Nothing was happening. Iran was not in -- going to do anything because Iran did not have much money at that point. They were broke. They were totally broke. They didn't have money for Hamas or for Hezbollah. And you didn't have Russia with Ukraine. And that would never have happened.
But now, I come back and I have the whole world is on fire. So, I have to put out the fires. But after I put out the fires, I'm going to meet with China, and I'm going to meet with Russia, and we're going to see if we can de-escalate it, we can bring it down, military, especially as it pertains to nuclear, please.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Prime Minister, how do you see India's role? You have had discussions with President Trump about de-escalating the conflict in Russia and Ukraine.
MODI (through translator): As you know, I have been in constant contact with both Russia and Ukraine. I have also visited both countries. And many people are mistaken and they feel that India is neutral. I would like to clarify, India is not neutral. We have taken a side, and we have taken the side of peace.
And it is based on this principle of ours that in the presence of President Putin, I clearly said in front of the media that this is not the era of war, and even today, it is my conviction that solutions cannot be found on the battlefield. Ultimately, you have to come to the negotiating table.
[18:45:00] And India has constantly made efforts that there are talks that take place where both parties are present. It is only then that we will find a solution. The efforts being made by President Trump, I support them. I welcome them. And I would like that President Trump is successful as soon as possible so that the world is on the path to peace once again.
TRUMP: Everybody, thank you very much. Thank you very much. And I very much appreciate the prime minister visiting our great country and I do really appreciate it. We have so much in common and all we want to do is have peace and we want to have strength and we want to have lots of different things together. But the relationship with India and with the prime minister has never been better. Thank you very much.
ROSALES: All right. We've been watching that joint press conference between President Trump and the prime minister of India. Let's go now to Ravi Agrawal. He is the editor in chief of Foreign Policy Magazine. He joins me now from Munich. Ravi, thank you so much for your time.
We did hear Trump say that the prime minister was a much better, tougher negotiator than me. In looking at this MEGA partnership that they're announcing, not MAGA, MEGA partnership, do you agree with that?
RAVI AGRAWAL, EDITOR IN CHIEF, FOREIGN POLICY: Well, I mean, I think flattery will get leaders everywhere. I think Trump and Modi have a long friendship. They've worked together before. They know how to deal with each other. They're both very transactional leaders as well. So, I wouldn't read too much more into that comment other than the fact that Trump was trying to flatter Modi.
And I think, you know, part of what we've heard from this press conference, which by the way, is very notable because Modi never does press conferences when he is in India. When I was based there as a reporter for CNN, we never got the chance to ask Modi questions in that fashion.
But what we heard from this was quite clear, I think. A, you have the big bombshell that Trump is going to launch reciprocal tariffs on all nations, that will end up meaning big tariffs on India, reciprocal because India has high tariffs. But then, also, this is going to be reviewed over the course of the next 180 days, so anything could happen after that.
But, B, India would have the ability to adjust things. And I think Modi has already made clear that they want to reduce some tariffs on American products, bicycles, for example, Harley Davidson's, but India is also saying it's going to buy a lot more American oil, which it used to do in the past before Russia's invasion of Ukraine, after which India dramatically ramped up purchases of cheaper Russian oil.
ROSALES: What stood out to you in everything that has been unveiled in this partnership? You know, we heard about the F-35 fighter jets, more military sales to India. We heard about the extradition that's happening. We heard of -- certainly of the reduction of tariffs on U.S. goods, the nuclear tech coming to India, this A.I. partnership. Is there anything there that took you by surprise?
AGRAWAL: No. Partly because all of this was expected. Usually what happens when two leaders like Modi and Trump meet there's a lot of lead time and the teams on both sides work for many, many months behind the scenes to come up with bigger deals, a lot of what they've just talked about.
Remember, this is a trip that was organized very hastily, a sign of how much this partnership matters to Trump that he was, you know, among the first few leaders to come to the White House, and I think a lot of what they said is all stuff that has been in the works for a long time, along the margins, you know, India purchasing more American military hardware, purchasing more oil, those are just technicalities in the sense that the United States has been trying to get India to buy more American hardware for quite a long time to diversify what it has, to purchase less from Russia.
Oil is the one thing that is different here. And the reason there is India, of course, needs cheap oil. It's one of the world's biggest importers. But also, after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, someone needed to buy that oil, and America was very aware of that. Hence, the price cap on Russian oil. And remember, if India didn't buy that oil, oil prices would have been higher.
So, Trump has been very clear. He wants to flood the market with more oil. Drill, baby, drill. That brings prices lower. And if he wants India to buy it from America, I think India would be quite keen to do that. That shouldn't be too much of a problem.
[18:50:00]
ROSALES: You know, we've heard Trump calling India a very big abuser on trade. We've heard him call Modi a tariff king. Is Trump showing that his strong arming of economic policy, of using tariffs as a weapon works?
AGRAWAL: We don't know. I mean, for starters many of the tariffs he has announced so far haven't properly kicked in. Remember, the way tariffs work, this is like a tax, but importers pay the tax, not exporters. And then, there's a range of ripple effects over time that we haven't seen yet how they play out. But basically, in short, you know, when you have a tariff, if the importer pays the tariff, at some point in time that gets translated into higher costs for consumers, that leads to inflation.
When that eventually happens, that will have a range of market ripple effects, that I don't think we've seen play out so far. A lot of what Trump has been talking about so far, especially reciprocal tariffs, basically just tears up the American tariff code. It is also a dramatic expansion of American executive power.
Remember, Congress sets these rules, not the executive. So, there could be challenges in the courts. And then, once we see these things actually filtered through the market, there could be all kinds of market checks and balances that could impact how countries deal with these tariffs. This is absolutely uncharted territory here. We've never seen something like this in the global trade markets. Countries are dealing with this on the fly. And I think they also recognize that Trump is mercurial, but this is one issue that he genuinely believes in. He in using tariffs as a foreign policy cudgel, but having understood that, they know that the way to get to him, to deal with him is to be transactional, to show up the way Modi has, to praise him, to flatter him to provide him deals that would make him look good, whether or not those deals actually get executed in the longer-term, India said, for example, it would take back illegal immigrants from the United States. It's only taken back 104 so far. There are 700,000 undocumented workers in the United States from India.
ROSALES: And on tariffs, he definitely -- I'm sorry. I didn't mean to cut you off there. But yes, on tariffs, he says that's his favorite word behind religion, God and love. And we're certainly seeing it all play out today. Ravi Agrawal, that's the end of our time. I so appreciate your perspective here. Thank you. Thank you.
All right. Stephen Collinson is still with me and Will Ripley joins me now from Taipei. Stephen, let's start with you. What caught you -- Will, I'm sorry. Will, let's start with you. What stood out to you in this joint press conference?
WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, Isabel, I think we have now seen first with the Japanese prime minister, Ishiba's, very positive meeting with Trump and now what apparently is a very positive meeting with Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
This is a master class for other leaders around the world to kind of know how they should walk into a negotiation with President Trump to achieve the best possible outcome given that you have to expect -- I mean, for example, Prime Minister Modi here arrived in. He got a great welcome from the Indian diaspora in D.C., but then, you know, as he's on the ground in the United States, President Trump announces reciprocal tariffs, which everyone in India knows could have a massive effect because of how high India's tariffs are. President Trump mentioned 70 percent on some American cars, you know, they used to be 125 percent on certain luxury cars over $40,000. So, India has actually reduced those tariffs already.
Whether Prime Minister Modi knew or was expecting that President Trump would make this reciprocal tariff announcement, which could potentially cause Modi to lose a lot of face if he went back to India without making significant progress.
But at the end of this meeting that they had, the meeting went long, the press conference started late, they announced essentially the best possible outcome, which is that the two sides are going to try to fast track negotiations on a trade deal. And India is getting some of what it wants too, like more U.S. investment in nuclear energy in India and also those F-35s that you mentioned earlier.
So, both of these leaders, President Trump's able to list out all of the things that the United States will gain and Prime Minister Modi is able to do the same. And that, you know, I keep going back that, you know, Make India Great Again, MIGA and MIGA plus MAGA equals MEGA, clearly, they might have had a PR team to think that up, and that's exactly the kind of clever branding that President Trump certainly loves to hear, Isabel.
So, the Indians did their homework, they understood the assignment. And Prime Minister leaves looking as good as can be expected.
ROSALES: Yes.
RIPLEY: Exactly.
ROSALES: And, Stephen, let me ask you about Ukraine and Russia. What sort of role is India going to play here?
[18:55:00]
COLLINSON: I don't think India is going to be in the center of these negotiations. India has a record of aggressively pursuing its own national interest. You heard Modi say that they are not on the sidelines, but they are on the sidelines of peace.
India, of course, has bought vast quantities of cheap Russian oil during this conflict, very much to the irritation of the previous Biden administration. That's been one of the things that have helped prop up the Russian economy, which has been under huge international sanctions.
So, I think what we saw today was the President slightly moderating the message on Ukraine that was delivered by Pete Hegseth, the U.S. defense secretary, in Europe that caused a great deal of consternation yesterday, but he is still sticking to his points that he believes that it was NATO membership and the possibility of that in the future for Ukraine that caused this war. That, of course, is echoing one of the major talking points of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
So, although he tried to, perhaps, row back a little bit, what countries in Europe will be hearing is that Trump is adopting the Russian position on how this war should end, even though he says now that Zelenskyy, of course, will be at the table. He said that earlier during an Oval Office meeting.
So, a lot is up in the air about this -- how this Ukraine peace talks are going to work --
ROSALES: Stephen --
COLLINSON: -- and how much -- and how quickly the U.S. is going to push the policies out of this.
ROSALES: We're out of time, my friend. Thank you. A strong message certainly sent to the world. Thank you all for joining us. Really appreciate it.
And thanks for your company. I'm Isabel Rosales. Stay with CNN.
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