‘Flattery a necessary grease at the White House’: Kanwal Sibal says Trump’s words and actions don’t match
Kanwal Sibal added that Trump routinely praises foreign leaders and it is not meant to be taken seriously.
- Nov 11, 2025,
- Updated Nov 11, 2025 11:42 AM IST
It appears that nothing necessary gets done in the White House without flattering US President Donald Trump first, quipped former foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal. He was referring to the swearing-in ceremony for the new US Ambassador to India, Sergio Gor, during which Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Trump has done more for the country than any other presidents before.
“Flattery seems to be the necessary grease for functioning in the WH. Trump made friendly noises about India and Modi but these are not matched by actions. The punitive tariffs haven’t been removed,” Sibal said.
During the ceremony, Trump indicated that the 50 per cent tariff on India could be rolled back. “Right now, the tariffs are very high on India because of the Russian oil…They’ve stopped doing the Russian oil. It’s been reduced very substantially. Yeah, we’re going to be bringing the tariffs down… At some point, we’re going to be bringing them down,” he had said.
Sibal added that Trump routinely praises foreign leaders and it is not meant to be taken seriously. The former secretary said Trump’s praises for foreign leaders are a way of self-praise, to show the world his positivity, his ability to forge and control friendships.
Trump had said that he has a “fantastic relationship” with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. However, as Kanwal indicated, the relationship has not yielded positive results for India. Not only Kanwal, former RBI governor and economist Raghuram Rajan said that it is an insult to Modi that despite the much-extolled friendship between the two leaders, New Delhi faces a 50 per cent tariff, while Pakistan has 19 per cent.
Meanwhile, Rubio during his speech said there was an impressive collection of people attending the ceremony at the White House. Apart from the President, himself, and Gor, the Oval Office had US Vice President JD Vance, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, US Attorney General Pam Bondi, United States Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro, Senator Lindsey Graham, as well as Charlie Kirk’s wife Erika Kirk, in attendance.
He joked: “There’s almost 1.5 billion people in the Oval Office right now.”
Trump also said India was an “important economic and strategic security partner in the Indo-Pacific region”. “It's an amazing country, actually, 1.5 billion people. China has 1.4 billion. Those are two big countries. As Ambassador, Sergio will work to fortify our country's bonds, promote investments in key US industries and technologies, increase American energy exports and expand our security cooperation,” Trump said.
It appears that nothing necessary gets done in the White House without flattering US President Donald Trump first, quipped former foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal. He was referring to the swearing-in ceremony for the new US Ambassador to India, Sergio Gor, during which Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Trump has done more for the country than any other presidents before.
“Flattery seems to be the necessary grease for functioning in the WH. Trump made friendly noises about India and Modi but these are not matched by actions. The punitive tariffs haven’t been removed,” Sibal said.
During the ceremony, Trump indicated that the 50 per cent tariff on India could be rolled back. “Right now, the tariffs are very high on India because of the Russian oil…They’ve stopped doing the Russian oil. It’s been reduced very substantially. Yeah, we’re going to be bringing the tariffs down… At some point, we’re going to be bringing them down,” he had said.
Sibal added that Trump routinely praises foreign leaders and it is not meant to be taken seriously. The former secretary said Trump’s praises for foreign leaders are a way of self-praise, to show the world his positivity, his ability to forge and control friendships.
Trump had said that he has a “fantastic relationship” with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. However, as Kanwal indicated, the relationship has not yielded positive results for India. Not only Kanwal, former RBI governor and economist Raghuram Rajan said that it is an insult to Modi that despite the much-extolled friendship between the two leaders, New Delhi faces a 50 per cent tariff, while Pakistan has 19 per cent.
Meanwhile, Rubio during his speech said there was an impressive collection of people attending the ceremony at the White House. Apart from the President, himself, and Gor, the Oval Office had US Vice President JD Vance, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, US Attorney General Pam Bondi, United States Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro, Senator Lindsey Graham, as well as Charlie Kirk’s wife Erika Kirk, in attendance.
He joked: “There’s almost 1.5 billion people in the Oval Office right now.”
Trump also said India was an “important economic and strategic security partner in the Indo-Pacific region”. “It's an amazing country, actually, 1.5 billion people. China has 1.4 billion. Those are two big countries. As Ambassador, Sergio will work to fortify our country's bonds, promote investments in key US industries and technologies, increase American energy exports and expand our security cooperation,” Trump said.