Updated by Faith Barbara N Ruhinda at 1402 EAT on Friday 24 April 2026

An Indian official has criticised comments shared by United States President Donald Trump describing India as a “hellhole,” saying the language was “in poor taste” and inconsistent with the long-standing relationship between the two countries.

Trump did not personally make the remark but reposted it without comment on his Truth Social account on Thursday. The original statement was made by conservative radio host Michael Savage.

Criticising US birthright citizenship, which President Donald Trump has sought to restrict, conservative radio host Michael Savage said: “A baby here becomes an instant citizen, and then they bring the entire family in from China or India or some other hellhole on the planet.”

Reacting on Thursday evening, India’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal described the remarks as “obviously uninformed, inappropriate and in poor taste,” adding that they “certainly do not reflect the reality of the India–US relationship, which has long been based on mutual respect and shared interests.”

The comments were also addressed by the US Embassy in New Delhi, which said: “The president has said ‘India is a great country with a very good friend of mine at the top’.”

India’s main opposition Congress party has described the “hellhole” remark as “extremely insulting and anti-India,” saying it “hurts every Indian.”

In a post on X, the party urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to raise the issue with the United States president and “register a strong objection.”

Indian government data indicates that about 5.5 million people of Indian origin live in the United States. Indian Americans, along with Chinese Americans, are among the largest Asian-origin communities in the country

Savage’s comment, which was shared by President Donald Trump, continued: “There’s almost no loyalty to this country amongst the immigrant class coming in today, which was not always the case. No, they’re not like the European Americans of today and their ancestors.”

Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi enjoyed warm relations during Trump’s first term in office. However, ties cooled after India was hit last year with some of the highest US tariffs, many of which were later rolled back.

The United States and India are now working on a trade agreement aimed at preventing renewed tariff increases and expanding bilateral trade.

Trump has repeatedly used inflammatory language in reference to foreign countries and immigrant communities, including recently calling Somali immigrants “garbage.”

In 2018, he drew global condemnation after referring to El Salvador, Haiti and several African nations as “s**thole countries.”

-Aljazeera

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