US President Donald Trump made a fresh case against birthright citizenship on Thursday — resharing a racist rant against India and other countries to make his point. The Ministry of External Affairs said it was aware of the comments without offering additional inputs.
“We’ve seen some reports. That’s where I’ll leave it,” MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said during a weekly briefing on Thursday evening.
Jaiswal also shared an update on ongoing trade negotiations between the two countries during his address. India and the United States had signed an interim trade deal days before the US Supreme Court held that the sweeping reciprocal tariffs imposed by Trump were illegal.
“A team from India went to Washington DC for negotiations on the bilateral trade agreement. These engagements are ongoing and constructive. Both sides are working towards a balanced, mutually beneficial and forward-looking trade agreement, taking into account each other’s concerns and priorities, and to reach a trade target of US $500 billion by 2030,” Jaiswal added.
#WATCH | Delhi | On US President Donald Trump resharing a post which called India, China, a 'hellhole on the planet', MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal says, "We've seen some reports. That's where I'll leave it." pic.twitter.com/m46jLzsX2b
— ANI (@ANI) April 23, 2026
What had Trump said?
Trump reposted a lengthy rant from American political commentator and podcaster Michael Savage that made several derogatory references to India, China and other “hell-hole” nations. Savage claimed that people from the two Asian countries visited the US to “drop a baby in the ninth month” for the sake of citizenship.
“A baby here becomes an instant citizen, and then they bring in their entire family from China, or India, or some other hell-hole on the planet…We’ve gone from the melting pot to the chamber pot….birthright citizenship should be subjected to a national vote,” he claimed in the post that was reshared by Trump.
The lengthy rant also described Indian and Chinese immigrants as “gangsters with laptops” who have “stepped on our flag” and done great damage to the country.
“They’ve done more damage to this nation than all the mafia families put together. In my unhumble opinion. Gangsters with laptops. They’ve robbed us blind, treated us like second-class citizens, let the trud world triumph, stepped on our flag, et cetera,” he insisted.
Trump approval ratings plummet ahead of midterms
Three separate political polls released this week show a steady decline in approval ratings for Trump. His falling approval ratings could create problems for the Republican party as it tries to defend House and Senate majorities in the midterm elections.
- The AP-NORC center for Public Affairs Research poll published on Monday found that seven in 10 Americans described the economy as poor and believe the country is headed in the wrong direction. Only 33% of US adults approved of Trump’s overall job performance, down slightly from 38% last month. The poll also found that Trump was especially weak on cost of living, and enthusiasm about his performance has waned over the past year among his own supporters.
- A Reuters-IPSOS poll published on Wednesday also found that Trump’s signature migrant deportation policies could harm Republicans in November’s congressional elections. About 52% of Americans said they were less likely to support a candidate who backed his approach to deportations — significantly more than the 42% who said they were more likely to support such a candidate.
- An NBC News decision desk poll also found that Trump’s personal approval rating has hit a second-term low — with 37% of adults approving of Trump’s performance as president, while 63% disapproved. Among those, 50% said they disapprove strongly.
Trump to expand refugee program for white South Africans
According to a Reuters report, the Trump administration is considering a significant expansion of an annual refugee limit for white South Africans. The Republican leader had paused refugee admissions from around the world when he took office in January 2025. The President issued an executive order weeks into his term prioritising the resettlement of European-descended Afrikaners. Trump claims they faced race-based persecution in majority-Black South Africa — a claim that has been vehemently denied by the other country’s government.
The report cited sources to add that US officials have recently been discussing an expansion of the 7,500-person refugee cap by 10,000 to allow more South Africans of Afrikaner ethnicity to obtain refugee status,
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