Washington: US President Donald Trump on Monday shared a video link of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s interaction with US-based popular podcaster and computer scientist Lex Fridman on his social media platform Truth Social.
During the interaction lasting over three hours, Modi on Sunday said he and Trump connect well as both put their respective countries first and asserted that their mutual trust remained unshaken even when the Republican leader was out of office during Joe Biden’s presidency.
Asked what he likes about Trump, Modi recalled that during his first term, Trump ignored security protocol and agreed to his request to take a lap around the stadium hosting the ‘Howdy Modi’ event in Houston.
“I was touched by his courage and his trust in me,” he said, noting that Trump conveyed similar courage following the assassination attempt on him during the presidential campaign.
Modi said that Trump believes in “America First”, and his motto is “nation first” or “India first”. He added that this similar spirit makes them connect well.
Without referring to the trade issues involving the two countries, Modi, while speaking of his recent meeting with the US president and his colleagues, noted that Trump seems far more prepared with a clear roadmap and has put together a strong team in his second term.
The prime minister also lauded Mahatma Gandhi’s legacy and described himself as a peacemaker who has nudged both Russian and Ukrainian leaders to come to the negotiating table.
In the podcast, Modi also opened up on a host of foreign affairs issues and touched on various aspects of his life journey.
Fridman, who moved to the US from Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union, started his podcast in 2018 which was originally titled the Artificial Intelligence Podcast but the name changed to Lex Fridman Podcast in 2020.
Guests on his podcast include Donald Trump, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, SpaceX founder Elon Musk, American businessman Jeff Bezos and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
