 "Donald Trump decoded: Should Indians really be cheering for the Republican front-runner?")
According to news reports, Indian-Americans are rallying around Donald Trump, the billionaire real estate businessman-turned-politician who is emerging as the Republican front-runner in the presidential race. Several groups of Indian-Americans, a majority of them Hindus, have taken to social media to voice their support for Trump. The Indian media too has given a lot of coverage to supposedly pro-India quotes from the Republican candidate. But do they tell the whole story?
Business Standard tries to decode his statements and what it means for us Indians back home.
Donald Trump: “India is doing great. Nobody talks about it.”
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Donald Trump Decoded: At first, it may look like the US Presidential candidate may be praising India. But a closer look at the entire statement reveals that he is instead bemoaning the decline of the US, due to which other nations like China and India have been given the room to rise.
“Just look at this country (the US). We have gone from this tremendous power that was respected all over the world to somewhat of a laughing stock. All of a sudden, people are talking about China and India and other places, even from an economic standpoint. The United States has come down a long way, and it is very, very sad. We are not respected,” Trump said.
The quote is also includes a reference to Trump and ‘having big jobs going up in India’ which refers to his real estate business interests in the country – which Kanika Datta points out are very limited. “These over-the-top properties are being constructed by local Indian developers-Lodha in the case of the Worli complex and Panchshil Realty for the Pune complex. Both developers will pay Mr Trump's company a licence fee to use his brand-name.. Neither involves any skin in the game from The Donald,” she writes, “Still, when asked, he did not detail investment plans for India. Nor has he cared to do so any time since.” India is great, but not quite great enough for actual Trump dollars.
Donald Trump: “They go to Harvard, they are first in their class and they’re from India. They go back to India and they set up companies and they make a fortune and they employ lots of people and all of that.... Many people want to stay in this country and then want to do that. I think somebody that goes through years of college in this country, we shouldn’t kick them out the day they graduate, which we do.”
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Donald Trump Decoded: While Trump certainly wants Indian students to stay back in the US and build businesses, but it is only the high-wage earning desi that he wants to retain. His views are in line with his stance on H1-B guest work visa (more than 50% of which goes to skilled workers from India) where he supports increasing the minimum wage. “Raising the prevailing wage paid to H-1Bs will force companies to give these coveted entry-level jobs to the existing domestic pool of unemployed native and immigrant workers in the US, instead of flying in cheaper workers from overseas,” declares the Trump campaign platform.
What it implies is that many Indians, who are a source of cheap labour for many technology companies in the US, would no longer qualify for this visa and that the preference would always be the local, unemployed workers if Trump decides to implement it.
His opinion on limiting green cards to foreign workers ought to seal the deal for Indians with American dreams. “Before any new green cards are issued to foreign workers abroad, there will be a pause where employers will have to hire from the domestic pool of unemployed immigrant and native workers,” it said.
Donald Trump: “I have not met him (Narendra Modi), but your new PM has done a fantastic job of bringing people together"
Donald Trump Decoded: The republican frontrunner gave this statement when he was in India to promote the two towers in August 2014 — much before he had declared his candidature for the Presidential race.
So, what are we missing here?
While he was all praise for the Indian Prime Minister, his view was linked to his real estate interests, and not necessarily his views as a potential leader. Hence what he said later in the interview, “The perception about India has changed. The optimism is returning, you can see it in our sales. We are selling units more than our own expectations.”
In the same interview, Trump had also claimed that the real estate prices in Mumbai were ‘extremely low’.
“In my opinion, real estate prices in Mumbai are incredibly low because there are so many other places, cities, countries where you will find prices that are way too high,” he said.
The comments suggest that he doesn't know much about the real estate sector in India and Mumbai, in particular, which is the 16th costliest global city for luxury homes. It is hard then to take seriously any statement he makes on India, positive or otherwise.
Donald Trump: “India is the check to Pakistan. You have to get India involved ... They have their own nukes and have a very powerful army. They seem to be the real check ... I think we have to deal very closely with India to deal with it (Pakistan).”
Donald Trump Decoded: Pitching India as the solution to tackle with the ‘problem’ may give heart to Indians who have been waiting for the US to project India as its primary ally in South Asia.
However, the US Presidential candidate’s anti-Muslim stand is also a well-documented fact. His labels of Pakistan being the ‘most unstable’ country, a ‘serious problem’ and his stand on Islam have to be seen in the context of his polarising anti-Muslim views -- which may hit a little bit too close to home for most Indians. Since the BJP-led government has come to power in 2014, the number of communal incidents and tensions have been on the rise. Cheering for an anti-Muslim presidential candidate is unlikely to help matters on the domestic front.