By TRH World Desk
Trump’s viral “most beautiful looking man” remark in France signals an effort to repair India-US ties, but tariffs, agriculture access and China strategy remain major fault lines
New Delhi, June 18, 2026 — US President Donald Trump calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi “most beautiful looking man” is breaking the internet. But beyond the camera focus, India and the US engaged in hard negotiations, as well as efforts to arrest the drift in ties between the two nations.
The spotlight has gone to Trump’s graphic description of Modi. With Modi alongside, Trump said: “He’s the most beautiful looking man. He looks so nice. He’s like an angel. But actually, he’s tough, he’s a killer…But he looks so good, so he gets you by surprise.”
With Modi laughing and seemingly taking Trump’s remarks lightly, the US President seems to have made an attempt to repair damages to the bilateral ties done in the last few months. The killings of Indian seafarers in American attacks, the tariffs, and regular ramblings of Trump have been seen damaging to the bilateral ties.
US ambassador in India Segio Gor had flown into France to lay the grounds for the Modi-Trump handshake. Gor in a post on X sought to portray India positively for the MAGA constituency in the US by saying that the Indian companies by committing over $24 billion in recent days are contributing to job creations in the country.
Trump had recently reposted an article by a podcaster who had described Indians negatively, accusing them of stealing jobs. Trump had also called India a “hell hole.” Earlier, he had also called Indian economy “dead.”
With Gor doing the repair works, Trump let loose his praises on Modi. Trump in the past had heaped similar praises in Egyptian President Fattah el-Sisi. “He was in a hotel and I met him. We fell in love, deeply in love … we didn’t know each other before that. We had great chemistry, and I stayed twice as long as I was supposed to,” trump had once described the Egyptian President in these words.
But India and the US relations are currently at a critical juncture with noticeable drift. The trade tariff agreement is still in the works. India is reportedly resisting the American demands for opening up the agricultural market.
Spotlighting the significance of the bilateral relations, John Bolton, who has served as national security advisor to Trump in his first term, wrote on X: “The U.S. and India face a significant amount of common threats — the biggest being China. Many countries look to the U.S.-India relationship to have a better understanding of the nature of the Chinese threat. If there was more cooperation there, it would help reassure other countries that they don’t have to face the rise of Chinese hegemonic ambitions on their own.”
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