Kicking off a whirlwind 36-hour visit to India that emphasizes pageantry over policy, President Donald Trumpreceived a warm welcome Monday on the subcontinent — including a mega-rally named after a traditional Indian greeting — meant to reaffirm ties while providing enviable overseas imagery for a president in a re-election year.
As Air Force One touched down in Ahmedabad in western India,the final preparations were underway for that day's enviable trio of presidential photo-ops: a visit to a former home of independence leader Mohandas Gandhi , a mega-rally at the world's second-largest stadium and a trip to the famed Taj Mahal.
Dancers in traditional attire, dancers and drummers lined the red carpet rolled out at the stairs of the presidential aircraft as Trump was poised to receive the raucous reception that has eluded him on many foreign trips, some of which have featured massive protests and icy handshakes from world leaders. In India, he is expected to receive a warm embrace — literally — from the ideologically aligned and hug-loving Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
People fill the stands for an event at Sardar Patel stadium which will be attended by U.S. President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Ahmedabad, India, Monday, Feb. 24, 2020. Hundreds of thousands of people in the northwestern city are expected to greet Trump on Monday for a road show leading to a massive rally at what has been touted as the worlds largest cricket stadium. (AP PhotoAijaz Rahi)
The sun-baked city of Ahmedabad jostled with activity the day before Trump's arrival as workers cleaned roads, planted flowers and hoisted hundreds of billboards featuring the president and First Lady Melania Trump, Hundreds of thousands of people in the northwestern city are expected to greet Trump for a road show leading to a massive rally at what has been touted as the world’s largest cricket stadium.
Trump’s motorcade will travel amid cheers from a battery of carefully picked and vetted Modi loyalists and workers from his Bharatiya Janata Party who will stand for hours alongside the neatly manicured 22-kilometer (14-mile) stretch of road to accord the president a grand welcome on his way to the newly constructed stadium. Tens of thousands of police officers will be on hand to keep security tight and a new wall has come up in front of a slum, apparently to hide it from presidential passers-by.
“I hear it’s going to be a big event. Some people say the biggest event they’ve ever had in India," Trump said before he departed Washington. “That’s what the prime minister told me — this will be the biggest event they’ve ever had.”
The “Namaste Trump” rally will be, in a way, the back half of home-and-home events for Modi and Trump who attended a “Howdy Modi” rally in Houston last year that drew 50,000 people.
Trump’s foreign visits have typically been light on sightseeing, but this time, the president and first lady Melania Trump are to visit the Taj Mahal. Stories in local media warn of the monkeys that inhabit the landmark pestering tourists for food and, on occasion, menacing both visitors and slingshot-carrying security guards.
Images of American presidents being feted on the world stage stand in contrast to those of their rivals in the opposing party slogging through diners in early-voting states and clashing in debate. This trip, in particular, reflects a Trump campaign strategy to showcase him in his presidential role during short, carefully managed trips that provide counter-programming to the Democrats’ primary contest and produce the kinds of visuals his campaign can use in future ads. His aides also believe the visit could help the president woo tens of thousands of Indian-American voters before the November election.
The visit also comes at a crucial moment for Modi, a fellow populist, who has provided over a steep economic downtown and unfulfilled campaign promises about job creation. When Trump touches down in Delhi late Monday, he will find a bustling, noisy, colorful capital that also is dotted with half-finished construction projects stalled due to disappearing funding.
The president on Tuesday will conclude his whirlwind visit to India with a day in the capital, complete with a gala dinner meetings with Modi over stalled trade talks between the two nations. Trade tensions between the two countries have escalated since the Trump administration imposed tariffs on steel and aluminium from India. India responded with higher penalties on agricultural goods and restrictions on U.S. medical devices. The U.S. retaliated by removing India from a decades-old preferential trade program.
Eyes will also be on whether Trump weighs on in the protests enveloping India over its Citizenship Amendment Act. It provides a fast track to naturalization for some migrants who entered the country illegally while fleeing religious persecution, but excludes Muslims, raising fears that the country is moving toward a religious citizenship test. Passage has prompted large-scale protests and a violent crackdown.
Typically, Trump has not publicly rebuked world leaders for human rights abuses during his overseas trips. But one senior administration official said the U.S. is concerned about the situation and that Trump will tell Modi the world is looking to India to continue to uphold its democratic traditions and respect religious minorities.
Follow Colvin on Twitter at http://twitter.com/colvinj and Lemire at http://twitter.com/@JonLemire
Ahmadabad
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — State Rep. Phil Lyman was selected as the Utah Republican gubernatorial nominee at the party's convention Saturday, though political observers say incumbent Gov. Spencer Cox remains the likely favorite in the upcoming primary.
Lyman, a former county commissioner turned legislator who is best known for organizing an illegal ATV ride in protest of a federal land decision, won about two-thirds of votes from the nearly 4,000 delegates, who tend to skew to the right.
Utah GOP voters generally prefer moderates in statewide elections, however, so the more moderate Cox, who took office in 2021, is seen as well positioned for the June 25 primary. He has gathered enough signatures to qualify for that ballot despite not getting the nod from the convention, and would advance to the November general election if he wins in June.
Delegates were also set to vote later in the marquee race to succeed U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney, the state's best-known centrist Republican, who often made waves for opposing former President Donald Trump and other leaders of the party.
The pool of nearly a dozen Republicans vying to replace Romney includes a congressman, a Trump-backed mayor, a former state legislative leader and the lawyer son of Utah’s longest-serving U.S. senator. While some have sought to align themselves with farther-right figures such as Trump and Utah's other senator, Mike Lee, others distanced themselves in an effort to appeal to the widest swath of voters.
“This seat gets to be sort of a flashpoint between the two major factions of the party in the state,” Utah State University political scientist James Curry said. “On one hand you have the more moderate faction that Romney really embodied, not just here but nationwide, versus the more pro-Trump faction that often hasn’t been as successful with Utah voters when there’s been a viable moderate option.”
Trump made a last-minute endorsement in the Senate contest for Riverton Mayor Trent Staggs, writing Saturday morning on his Truth Social platform that Staggs is a “100% MAGA” candidate who knows how to create jobs, stop inflation, grow the economy and secure the U.S.-Mexico border.
Trump's endorsement could carry Staggs, 49, through the convention but may not translate to success at the ballot box. Republican Party nominations historically have had little bearing on who Utah voters choose to represent them.
Staggs supporter Eric Buckley, a Davis County delegate, celebrated the endorsement and said he's confident it will be well received by Utah voters. Buckley said he already had vetted the Senate contenders months before and chosen to back Staggs — the first to enter the race even before Romney announced he wasn't seeking reelection.
“It was his stance on the corruption in D.C. that exists and his promise to stand up against the moderate Republicans and the Democrats pushing through their agenda without any type of resistance,” Buckley said of his support for Staggs.
Even some GOP delegates who support other top contenders — former state House Speaker Brad Wilson and U.S. Rep. John Curtis — said they may vote for Staggs as the party nominee because he is a convention-only candidate, meaning he has not collected signatures to guarantee his spot on the primary ballot.
Both Wilson and Curtis already have collected enough signatures to qualify for the primary regardless of Saturday’s outcome. Staggs and other convention-only candidates must earn at least 40% of votes Saturday to advance.
Tim Lindsay, a Cache County delegate who attended the convention wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat, said although he supports Trump, the former president's endorsement will have little impact on how he votes. His vote will go to “the most conservative candidate” who has not collected signatures.
“That's a cheap way out,” Lindsay said of signature gathering. “I respect a candidate who respects the convention process.”
Wilson, 55, has endorsed Trump's reelection bid and promises to be a “conservative fighter” on Capitol Hill. His elaborate expo booth in the convention hall featured a tractor plowing through a pile of cinder blocks labeled the “Biden Agenda.”
Curtis, 63, who is seen as the more moderate of the two frontrunners, has been compared to Romney for pushing back against hardliners in his party, particularly on climate change. He is expected to have broad appeal among primary voters.
Davis County delegate Jonathan Miller, who donned a “Team Mitt” baseball cap, said Curtis is his pick to replace the retiring senator because he already has proven himself in Congress as someone who works across the aisle to get things done.
Delegates booed moderates such as Cox as they took the stage. “I love you guys,” the governor responded, adding that many great leaders before him also were booed at past conventions but won at the polls.
The 2014 protest ride organized by Lyman, his competitor in the upcoming primary, came after federal officials closed a southeast Utah canyon to motorized vehicles to protect Native American cliff dwellings, artifacts and burials. Lyman argued that the closure constituted overreach by the federal government.
A judge in 2015 sentenced Lyman to 10 days in jail and three years of probation after a jury that year found him guilty of misdemeanor illegal use of ATVs and conspiracy.
He reminded delegates of his short sentence just before the vote and pledged to continue fighting federal overreach if elected.
Carson Jorgensen, a candidate for Utah governor and the former chairman of the state Republican Party, talks to delegates at the Utah Republican Party Convention, Saturday, April 27, 2024, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Hannah Schoenbaum)
Supporters of Utah state Rep. Phil Lyman, a candidate for governor, and other Republican delegates, boo incumbent Gov. Spencer Cox as he takes the stage at the Utah Republican Party Convention, Saturday, April 27, 2024, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Hannah Schoenbaum)
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox smiles at the crowd of nearly 4,000 Republican delegates as they greet him with loud boos at the state Republican Party Convention, Saturday, April 27, 2024, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Hannah Schoenbaum)
Utah state Rep. Phil Lyman, a candidate for governor, addresses nearly 4,000 delegates at the Utah Republican Party Convention, Saturday, April 27, 2024, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Hannah Schoenbaum)
FILE - Mitt Romney smiles during a campaign event, June 20, 2018, in American Fork, Utah. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)
Glen Turnbow, a Tooele County delegate, asks questions about election security before an electronic vote at the opening session of the Utah Republican Party Convention, Saturday, April 27, 2024, at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Hannah Schoenbaum)
Robert Axson, chairman of the Utah Republican Party, addresses nearly 4,000 delegates at the opening session of the party's annual convention, Saturday, April 27, 2024, at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Hannah Schoenbaum)
