US President Donald Trump sparked intense backlash by re-sharing a inflammatory post by conservative podcast host Michael Savage that referred to India as a ‘hellhole,’ in the context of US citizenship to those born in the country, and India’s official response was restrained but firm: the Foreign Ministry said the remarks were “uninformed, inappropriate and in poor taste.”
The post accuses Indian IT companies of not hiring local Americans and about citizenship it says, ” 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. You don’t have to go too far to see that. English is not spoken here anymore. That there’s almost no loyalty to this country amongst the immigrant class coming in today, which was not always the case.”
The MEA said the comments did not reflect the reality of the India-US relationship, which it described as built on mutual respect and shared interests. In its first reaction, India also said it had “seen some reports” before later sharpening the criticism.
The opposition Congress party called the remark extremely insulting and urged Modi to raise the issue directly with Trump. Media reports also noted that the controversy landed at a sensitive moment in India-US ties, amid trade tensions and pressure over India’s Russian oil purchases.
Meanwhile, Iran came out sharply against remarks attributed to US President Donald Trump, defending India and China as historic civilisations after the two countries were described as “hellholes” in a controversial post.
In a strongly worded response, the Iranian Embassy in Hyderabad wrote on X, “China and India are the cradles of civilisation. In fact, the hellhole is where its war-criminal president threatened to decimate civilisation in Iran.”
The US Embassy in New Delhi later tried to soften the fallout, saying Trump had described India as “a great country” with a “very good friend of mine at the top,” an apparent reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. That clarification came after the repost drew strong criticism in India and accusations that it was insulting and anti-India.
