U.S. President Donald Trump has wrapped up a spectacle-filled visit to India, where he was greeted by massive crowds in a “Namaste Trump” event, took in the grandeur of the Taj Mahal and declared U.S.-India relations to be “stronger than ever before.”The president stayed on script on a visit that was designed to accentuate the positive and personal dimensions of the U.S.-India relationship.“We’ll always remember that magnificent welcome the citizens of your home state showed us upon arrival,” Trump said to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, calling it a “profound expression of strength and of real love.”The visit was marred, however, by violent street protests of rival Hindu and Muslim groups demonstrating over a new citizenship law that led to the deaths of at least 10 people in two days of clashes, the Associated Press reported. Another 186 people were injured, including police and protesters.U.S. President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi shake hands before their meeting at Hyderabad House, Feb. 25, 2020, in New Delhi, India.India’s capital has been rocked by violence and demonstrations since parliament approved a new citizenship law in December that would allow a speedy naturalization process for many foreign-born religious minorities but not Muslims. Trump said he was aware of the protests but did not discuss it with Modi.”I don’t want to discuss that,” Trump told reporters. “I want to leave that to India and hopefully they’re going to make the right decision for the people.”during Trump’s visit, the two countries did not manage to bridge differences over a bilateral trade deal, but observers said the president benefited from 100,000 people of an important country cheering for him, on his first major foreign trips since being acquitted of impeachment charges in the U.S.The visit “is an answer to critics who accuse him of diminishing America’s power and prestige abroad,” Thomas Schwartz, a historian of U.S. foreign relations at Vanderbilt University, said.“It also does not hurt that this is a non-white country,” Schwartz said.A video by a self-proclaimed fan “to celebrate Trump’s India visit” went viral after a retweet by the president. The meme shows Trump on a horse leading an army, wielding a sword and killing enemies.Look so forward to being with my great friends in INDIA! U.S. President Donald Trump holds up his prepared speech that he didn’t use as he speaks with business leaders at a roundtable event at Roosevelt House, Feb. 25, 2020, in New Delhi, India.Trump is unlikely to agree to this demand but publicly airing the differences over issues important to the Indian diaspora scores political points for Modi.“Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s political party, the Bharatiya Janata Party, is well-organized here in the United States, and will be quite pleased to see a positive visit,” said Richard Rossow, the Wadhwani chair in U.S.-India Policy Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.Supporters of the Communist Party of India-Marxist protest against the India visit of U.S. President Donald Trump in Mumbai, India, Feb 25, 2020.India has the most Trump-branded properties outside of North America but the economic woes have left the country’s real estate market struggling and the Trump brand is no exception. The New York Times reported that the Trump family’s partners in Pune have stopped attempting to sell half of the luxury apartments in the complex.While the president did not publicly mention his family business during his trip, the visit generates more conflict-of-interest questions about mixing presidential duties with personal gain.“The president has shown a longstanding disregard for ethical norms, and could have done far more to insulate himself from the appearance of impropriety with respect to his holdings in India and elsewhere,” White, of Johns Hopkins, said.The Indian projects were negotiated before Trump was elected and the Trump Organization has vowed that there would be “no new foreign deals” while the president is in office. In 2018, Donald Trump Jr., executive vice president of the Trump Organization, went on a business trip to promote the family’s real estate brand across India. He generated more than $15 million in real estate sales.Trump has denied allegations of violations of the emoluments clause of the Constitution that prohibits officials from receiving gifts from foreign actors.
…