India among 20 countries that paid $7.8 million to Donald Trump businesses: Report

While former US President Donald Trump was in power in the United States alongside PM Narendra Modi in India, Trump's businesses received payments totalling at least $7.8 million, as per a recent report released by Democrat members of the US House Oversight Committee on January 4. India was the fifth among 20 other countries that made these payments.

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The report titled, 'White House for Sale: How Princes, Prime Ministers, and Premiers Paid Off President Trump’ suggests that from 2017 to 2020, India spent a total of $282,764 at Trump World Tower in New York and Trump International Hotel in Washington DC. It further suggests that these payments are a small portion of the foreign payments directed to Trump and his family throughout his tenure from 2017 to 2021.

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It was found that from 2017 to 2020, the Permanent Mission of India to the UN allocated $264,184 for payments to the Trump World Tower. The Trump World Tower is located opposite the UN headquarters. India purchased a unit in the Trump Tower in 2004 which has since served as the official residence of India’s Permanent Ambassador, Reported The Wire. 

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Trump’s accounting firm, Mazars mentioned that in 2018, India had spent $66,046 on combined common charges for two units at Trump World Tower on Turtle Bay. The report further provides a projection of this figure over the four years of Trump’s administration giving a total of $264,184. The report further stated that this figure did not include additional charges like electricity and special assessments that were paid in 2018.

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The Indian embassy in Washington DC spent the remaining $18,500 on three separate stays that were occupied by Indian diplomats during February and March 2017, as per the information obtained under the Right to Information Act. 

Moreover, it was found that in the South Asian region, India was home to the largest number of Trump-owned business projects outside the United States. The report by the Democrats on the Oversight Committee stated, “Former President Trump’s numerous foreign business entanglements in India and his direction of US foreign policy during his presidency repeatedly intersected, creating conspicuous conflicts of interest,” reported The Wire.

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The report mentions that Trump laid the foundation for his “uniquely warm relationship with the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi through his business ventures.” According to the report, PM Modi said that Donald Trump had been “full of very warm remarks and observations for me” when PM Modi visited the White House during Trump’s presidency.

In August 2014, Trump visited India to promote a project, soon after PM Modi was elected as prime minister. BJP leader and currently a Maharashtra cabinet minister, Mangal Prabhat Lodha was a partner in Trump's project. 

The report pointed out that in 2013, “several of Mr. Lodha’s companies had reportedly been under investigation by Indian officials for corrupt practices and tax evasion, and the Mumbai development was not a sure thing,” when Trump’s Mumbai Tower deal was announced.