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WASHINGTON: Talk of any retaliation from US President Donald Trump against India and its folding before any such purported threat over supply of pharma products is baseless and infructuous, senior Indian diplomats and officials asserted on Tuesday, amid a raging controversy over whether Washington is strong-arming New Delhi into relaxing its export ban on the anti-malaria drug Hydroxychloroquin, which Trump has characterized as a “game-changer” in the fight against the coronavirus The controversy erupted after Trump misheard or misunderstood a question from a reporter asking whether he was worried about retaliation from other countries to his (Trump’s) decision to ban export of US medical goods, such as India’s decision to ban export of hydroxychloroquin, which the journalist evidently saw as a response to the US banning export of its medical goods.This is how the exchange at the White House briefing went.Q: Sir. Are you worried about retaliation to your decision to ban export of medical goods, like Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision to not export hydroxychloroquine to the United States and other country?Donald Trump: I don’t like that decision. I didn’t hear that that was his decision. I know that he stopped it for other countries. I spoke to him yesterday. We had a very good talk and we’ll see whether or not that is. I would be surprised if he would because India does very well with the United States. For many years they’ve been taken advantage of the United States on trade. So I would be surprised if that were his decision. He’d have to tell me that. I spoke to him Sunday morning, called him, and I said, we’d appreciate your allowing our supply to come out. If he doesn’t allow it to come out, that would be okay. But of course there may be retaliation. Why wouldn’t there be?But according to Indian officials who spoke on background, New Delhi had already assured Washington of relaxing its export ban on contracted consignments by the time Trump spoke of retaliation IF India did not honor commitments, a formulation they say is unnecessary and unproductive, considering the matter had already been resolved and Trump himself had spoken of India’s serious consideration of his request. Trump had also expressed understanding of India’s own dilemma, saying, "India makes a lot of it. They need a lot too for their billion-plus people."However, critics of Prime Minister Modi and the ruling establishment in India pounced on Trump’s alleged threat to pillory the government for folding before US with the usual flood of cartoons and memes about how Modi’s purported pandering of the US President with the Namaste Trump rally was in vain. Lost in all this: Trump’s penchant for making off-the-cuff remarks in broken sentences and mangled syntax.Incidentally, in the same briefing, the US President berated the journalist who asked the question, ABC News’ White House Correspondent Jonathan Karl as a "third-rate reporter." Even his favored Fox News scribes were not spared. "You should say congratulations, great job, instead of being so horrid in the way that you ask a question," Trump told another reporter.On Tuesday, White House press secretary and communications director Stephanie Grisham stepped down from her post to become chief of staff and spokesperson for First Lady Melania Trump, a job she previously held. Grisham did not hold a single press briefing in the ten months she was the President’s press secretary, ostensibly because Trump himself held forth all the time on Twitter and in person -- so much so that some columnists have urged the reporters to boycott his press briefings because he simply uses it for propaganda and self-aggrandizement. Trump has boasted about the high tv ratings his daily briefings are getting.