Thaw ahead? India's $1.8 million-a-year lobbyist meets with Donald Trump

Jason Miller, India's lobbyist in Washington and a long-time adviser to Donald Trump, met the US president this week amid mounting strains in the India–US relationship. Miller shared the news in a social media post on Saturday.

"Fantastic week in Washington with so many friends being in town, topped off of course by having the opportunity to stop in and see our President in-action! Keep up the great work, @POTUS @realDonaldTrump!" he wrote on X.

The Indian Embassy in Washington signed a year-long contract with Miller on May 21. According to filings with the US Department of Justice, he is tasked with providing "strategic counsel, tactical planning," traditional lobbying services, and support in perception management and public relations. The contract is worth $150,000 a month, amounting to $1.8 million a year, Politico reported. It is the first disclosed lobbying assignment Miller has taken since Trump returned to office.

The move comes as relations between New Delhi and Washington have entered a difficult phase. On 27 August, the Trump administration doubled tariffs on Indian imports to 50 per cent, including a new 25 per cent duty linked to India's continuing purchase of Russian crude oil. 

Despite the tension, Trump has sought to present a mixed message on India and his ties with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. At a White House press conference on Friday, he described the relationship as "special" but added that he did not like what Modi was doing "at this particular moment."

"I will always be friends with Modi, he is a great prime minister, he's great. I'll always be friends but I just don't like what he's doing at this particular moment," Trump said. "But India and the United States have a special relationship. There is nothing to worry about."

Asked if the US risked losing India to China after Modi was photographed alongside Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin at the recent Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Tianjin, Trump insisted otherwise. "I don't think we have. I have been very disappointed that India would be buying so much oil... from Russia. And I let them know that we put a very big tariff on India — 50 per cent tariff, very high tariff. I get along very well with Modi as you know, he was here a couple of months ago."

He also joked about the setting of his last meeting with Modi. "In fact, we went to the Rose Garden, the grass was so soaking wet, it was such a terrible place to have a news conference. We had a news conference on the grass, it was my last news conference we had on the grass," he recalled.

Modi responded by highlighting what he called the "positive assessment" of India–US ties. "Deeply appreciate and fully reciprocate President Trump's sentiments and positive assessment of our ties," he wrote on X. "India and the US have a very positive and forward-looking Comprehensive and Global Strategic Partnership."

The prime minister’s message marked their first exchange since a June 17 phone call. 

Trump's own social media commentary earlier in the week painted a darker picture. Posting a photo of Modi with Xi and Putin, he wrote that it appeared the US was "losing India and Russia to deepest, darkest China."

Meanwhile, Trump's Trade adviser Peter Navarro last week branded India a "massive refining hub and oil money laundromat for the Kremlin." India rejected Navarro’s remarks, with the Ministry of External Affairs calling them "inaccurate and misleading."