US president’s son holds ‘fireside chat’ at business summit instead after accusations of interference

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

A scheduled speech by Donald Trump Jr on US foreign policy in India has been abruptly changed to a “fireside chat” hours before the address was supposed to begin in Delhi.



The 15-minute speech was initially called “Reshaping Indo-Pacific ties: the new era of cooperation”, but the title was amended on the website of the business conference to remove any reference to a topic.

Trump Jr was interviewed instead by the journalist Supriya Shrinate about his experiences as the son of the US president and his views on India’s business culture.

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Ethics watchdogs and Democratic lawmakers had questioned why Trump Jr, who has been in India since Tuesday touring properties licensed by the Trump Organization, was discussing US foreign policy on what was ostensibly a business trip by a private citizen.

The US state department and the US embassy in Delhi have denied any involvement in the speech or knowledge of its contents.

Organisers of the business summit, which was also addressed by India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, and several cabinet ministers, did not respond to questions about why the topic and format of Trump’s appearance had been changed.

Trump Jr told the audience of about 2,000 people he rarely talked politics with his father any more. “We see him so little that when we’re together it’s really about being a family,” he said.

Asked about corruption in India, his response – “There’s an entrepreneurial spirit here … that’s different to elsewhere in the world” – drew laughter from the crowd.

Trump stressed he was “here as a businessman, not representing anyone”.

The New Jersey senator, Bob Menendez, said earlier this week his visit could send the “mistaken message” that he was speaking on behalf of the US government.



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In a letter to Kenneth Juster, the new US ambassador to India, Menendez said he expected the US state deparment and the embassy in Delhi to “treat Mr Trump no differently than it would any other American individual visiting on private business, and will take every effort to avoid any perception of special treatment or a conflict of interest”.

He asked whether US officials would have any role in a dinner hosted by Trump Jr on Friday with investors in a Trump Organization-licensed project in Gurgaon, a city about an hour’s drive from Delhi.

One partner in the project boasted that the visit, announced in front-page advertisements in national newspapers, had generated around $15m (£10.7m) in sales for the project.

At least one journalist allowed to interview Trump Jr said they were given strict instructions that political questions were off limits, and that minders had blocked several questions about his father.

Trump Jr spoke of his frustration at not being able to do new business deals, a measure his father imposed to avoid conflicts of interest, but which ethics lawyers say does not sufficiently isolate Trump’s policy decisions from his finances.

“When we’re out of politics, I think we will get some credit for it and will be welcomed again with open arms,” Trump Jr said.

The Trump Organization has licensed its name to four other projects in Gurgaon, Pune, Kolkata and Mumbai.



Trump Jr has no official role in the Trump administration and took the reins of the family company, with his brother Eric, after their father was inaugurated.