'Trump has said India a great country': US in firefight mode after president's 'hellhole' remark

NEW DELHI: The US embassy in New Delhi was in full damage-control mode on Thursday following President Donald Trump's social media post referring to India and China as "hell holes".Spokesperson Christopher Elm sought to defuse tensions by quoting Trump's past praise for India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. According to IANS, Elm cited Trump's October 2025 remarks at a world leaders' summit, after the Gaza ceasefire ended the Israel-Hamas war."India is a great country with a very good friend of mine at the top and he's just done a fantastic job. I think Pakistan and India are going to live very nicely together," Trump had said.Trump has repeatedly referred to Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a “great friend,” including during a recent phone call between the two leaders amid the Iran conflict."I had a very good talk with him and he's a friend of mine from India and he's doing great. We had a very good conversation," Trump said in response to a question by ANI.Meanwhile, India has also responded on Trump's "hell-hole" post as MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, “We have seen some reports. That’s where I leave it.”The response from the US side comes amid backlash over a repost on Truth Social by Trump, who has on multiple occasions referred to Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a “great friend.”The controversial post, which criticised immigration into the United States, referenced countries including India and China in derogatory terms, triggering political criticism. "A baby here becomes an instant citizen, and then they bring the entire family in from China or India or some other hellhole on the planet. You don't have to go too far to see that. English is not spoken here anymore. That there's almost no loyalty to this country amongst the immigrant class coming in today, which was not always the case," it read.It further alleged systemic bias in employment and immigration systems: “You have to be from India or China because almost all the internal mechanisms are set up to run by Indians and Chinese.”The post also claimed that the integration seen in earlier waves of European immigration “is long over,” arguing that the United States has shifted from a “melting pot” to a “cash in pot”.