The most significant improvement in US-India relationships will be that India will no longer be judged on the dogmas and orthodoxies of the liberal-progressive theology of the Democrat Party.
Washington, D.C.: TRUMP-VANCE INAUGURATION IN DC
Washington, DC, was a big festival town over the weekend. On Monday, 20 January, it led up to the inauguration of President-elect Donald J. Trump as the 47th (he was also the 45th) President of the United States. People from all across America, some even from other parts of the world—in all shapes, sizes, ages, genders, and colours—filled the streets of DC. Bundled-up kids held their parents, grandparents, and siblings by their fingers and legs, some in arms and strollers. There were grandparents in walkers and wheelchairs. It reminded this author of good old mela scenes in India with hawkers selling Trump and MAGA (Make America Great Again) merchandise and large boomboxes blaring “YMCA” and “God bless America” songs.
The cheering crowd—a sea of humanity in their signature red MAGA hats and other Trump paraphernalia—moved slowly and patiently to secure their spot in downtown DC’s 20,000-capacity Capital One Arena. The Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee had issued over 200,000 parade tickets. However, the inaugural parade venue was moved indoors, anticipating freezing temperatures due to the polar vortex sweeping much of America.
This inauguration was in stark contrast to what we saw four years ago. Against the backdrop of the unfortunate 6 January rioting at the Capitol, the authorities in 2021 had turned the inaugural site into a militarized war zone. There were nearly 25,000 military members and countless federal, state, and local law enforcement agents securing the streets of DC. Roads were blocked off by army vehicles. Checkpoints were set up all around the city. One needed to produce the required credentials with “legitimate business” to enter these secured areas. In 2025, despite an elaborate security bandobast, the scenes were quite different.
Many Americans who thronged the streets of DC this time believed they were robbed of their chance to serenade their leader in 2021. They believed this opportunity was stolen from them. Covid allowed some Democrat-ruled state governments to arbitrarily—and many believed illegally—change election rules that helped Joe Biden win the election. They also believed that media and Big Tech censorship, especially of Hunter Biden’s laptop story, may have tipped the balance in Mr Biden’s favour.
A FLURRY OF EXECUTIVE ORDERS
Mindful of his historic mandate and wiser from his last experience running the country and four years away from it, Mr Trump quickly moved into action. He had promised a “common sense revolution” in the country. A common sense that, for example, identifies only two genders rewards merit in place of skin colour and professes equality of opportunity, not equality of outcome. He declared his electoral victory the “dawn of a golden age of America” with promises of prosperity and international heft. He signed several Executive Orders (EO) live from his parade location, including declaring on gender, remote work, immigration, etc. EOs are equivalent to ordinances in the Indian system. They remain in force until they are cancelled, revoked, adjudicated unlawful, or expire on their term.
Mr Trump revoked several executive orders on books, including President Lyndon B. Johnson’s Executive Order 111246 of 1965. This EO had become the federal hiring and contracting bedrock for over sixty years. The revocation eliminates the affirmative action requirement in federal hiring and contracting programs. It also prohibits federal hiring practices from considering diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) factors and focuses on “merit.”
Mr Trump also repealed Joe Biden’s EO 13985, which claimed to advance racial “equity” across the federal government. We all know that progressive “equity” is equal outcome, not equal opportunity. Mr Trump repealed Mr Biden’s EO on the grounds that it can lead to illegal discrimination and preferences in federal hiring. The United States Supreme Court has already declared race-based admissions criteria in educational institutions unconstitutional. However, Democrats and progressives have used innovative ways to continue with such discrimination.
As the world watches these seismic changes taking place in DC, the shocks are felt around the globe. Mr Trump withdrew the US from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Paris Climate Treaty. He also put NATO members on notice for not contributing their fair share.
U.S.-INDIA RELATIONSHIP
The Senate quickly confirmed Mr Trump’s first cabinet appointment, Marco Rubio, as the US Secretary of State unanimously with a 99-0 vote. This occurred while Mr Trump was signing some of his Executive Orders live during his parade event in front of a cheering crowd of over 20,000 MAGA supporters who had packed Capital One Arena in downtown DC. Mr Rubio’s appointment and confirmation are significant in terms of the US-India relationship. It is expected to be an improvement from the Biden-Harris administration.
The most significant improvement in US-India relationships will be that India will no longer be judged on the dogmas and orthodoxies of the liberal-progressive theology of the Democrat Party. Such judgments had become the mainstay of the Biden-Harris administration. Pragmatism will not be sacrificed at the altar of sanctimonious woke idealism. A Harris White House would have been even more “progressive” than the Biden White House. “As president, Harris would have constantly harassed the Modi government for falling short of liberal democratic perfections concerning free speech and minorities,” said Max Abrahms, a professor at Northeastern University, in communication with this author. There are concerns about Mr Trump’s stand on tariffs, immigration, etc. However, Mr Trump’s transactional approach also means he is open to deal-making. “India’s leverage is more abstract, as a strategic ally of the US against an aggressive Communist China,” said Subhash Kak in an email to this author. Kak is a computer scientist at Oklahoma State University and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Science, Technology, and Innovation Advisory Council member. “Under Trump, the U.S. will focus more on expanding military ties with India to keep China in check,” Abrahms added.
Trump’s approach to immigration, on the other hand, gives India an enormous opportunity to boost its manufacturing, education, and IT sectors. Trump’s rejection of WHO, WEF, Paris Climate Treaty, etc., allows India to recalibrate its focus and resources for the future.
Trump’s return to the White House comes in the wake of a disastrous, unprecedentedly divisive, and deceitful four years of Biden. “Biden leaves the White House in shame,” said Anang Mittal, a GOP communications strategist. One of the reasons Mr Trump returned to the White House, according to Mittal, is that Americans were sick of the onslaught of the left-progressive ideology on US institutions. Their gender and race ideologies have played havoc on the American society. One of the focus of the new administration would be to stop “the dangerous drift toward social and family disorder engendered by the ‘trans’ movement,” said Ramesh Rao, a professor of communication at Columbus State University. “It must be dealt with quickly and without remorse,” Rao added.
Kak hopes that Mr Trump’s bold policy of ending Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) quotas and refocusing on meritocracy may inspire Indian leaders to make similar changes in Indian administration.
Mr Trump has the rare opportunity, the mandate, and the drive to fix the malaise ailing America. In overcoming his challenges in the past few years, he has shown astonishing personal resilience and political skills. “His comeback after the rather ignominious events of 2021,” says Rao, “is a magical mystery tour that historians later will flesh out as a tale of courage, bravado, steadfastness, and discipline of a man dismissed as an undisciplined and transactional man.”
Judging by the nation’s mood, Trump 2.0 is off to a better start than most of his detractors might have imagined just a few months ago.
* Avatans Kumar is a Chicago-based award-winning columnist.