President Donald Trump hosted Diwali celebrations at the White House on Tuesday (21), lighting a traditional oil lamp and extending warm greetings to Indians and Indian-Americans. The event, attended by warm greetings to Indians and Indian-Americans. The event, attended by several Indian-origin leaders and business executives, was filled with both goodwill and light-hearted moments.
Trump pronounced 'Kwatruth' instead of 'Kwarta'
During his speech, Trump struggled to pronounce the word 'Diwali,' but later corrected himself. He also fumbled while addressing Indian Ambassador Vinay Mohan Kwarta, mistakenly calling him 'Vinay Kwatruth'. Realizing the error, he laughed and said, “Oh, I wasn’t too far on that.”
He went on to acknowledge Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon and several business leaders, but again mispronounced names such as Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayan and Micron Technology CEO Sanjay Mehrotra. The guests reportedly reacted with smiles and laughter.
Correctly pronounced Sergio Gor
However, he correctly pronounced the name of Sergio Gor, the new US ambassador-designate to India, saying, “It’s a great honour to have you as a new ambassador to India. This is a nice, easy name. Sergio Gor. Congratulations, Sergio. You’re going to do a fantastic job.”
Trump praised Modi and US-India ties
Amid the lighter moments, Trump emphasized that India and the US share a “very good relationship.” He told the audience that he had recently spoken with prime minister Narendra Modi.
“I just spoke to your prime minister today. We had a great conversation. We talked about trade. We talked about a lot of things, but mostly the world of trade. He’s very interested in that,” Trump said, addressing the Indian-American community.
Describing Modi as “a great person” and “a great friend of mine over the years,” Trump highlighted their strong personal bond and reaffirmed his intent to strengthen trade and energy ties with India.
Remarks on India-Pakistan relations
Trump also mentioned his discussions with Modi about India-Pakistan relations, saying, “We did talk a little while ago about let’s have no wars with Pakistan… and we have no war with Pakistan and India. That was a very, very good thing.”
He repeated his earlier claim that he helped settle tensions between the two countries. However, India has maintained that the ceasefire understanding with Pakistan in May was reached through direct talks between the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) of both nations — not through US mediation.
