Donald Trump says 7 million people will greet him in India next week

Donald Trump on Tuesday bragged 7 million people will be on hand to greet him when he arrives in India next week as the country built a wall to shield the president and first lady from the sight of the nation’s infamous slums.

The president said Prime Minister Narendra Modi told him about the crowds that will await him when he lands in Ahmedabad on Monday, for his trip from the airport to Motera Stadium, the world’s largest cricket arena.

Trump made the comment as he complained about trade relations between Washington D.C. and New Delhi.

Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold an event at the world’s largest cricket stadium in Ahmedabad next week

Indian officials built a wall to hide Trump’s view of the country’s infamous slums

‘We are not treated very well by India, but I happen to like the prime minister a lot,’ the president said before he left for a four-day trip to the West Coast. 

‘He told me we will have 7 million people between the airport and the event. The stadium, I understand, is going semi-under construction, but it is going to be the largest stadium in the world. It’s going to be very exciting, but he says between the stadium and the airport, we will have about 7 million people. It’s going to be very exciting,’ Trump said. 

American-Indian relations have been strained by trade disputes, which the president said he hopes to have worked out by November’s election.

The trip will also allow him to appeal to the tens of thousands of Indian-American voters ahead of Election Day.

Trump, along with Melania Trump, will make his first visit to India next week where he will inaugurate the stadium, which has been undergoing construction.

The event will take place in Modi’s home base, which Trump is visiting at the prime minister’s invitation.  

But while he’s in the world’s largest democracy, Trump won’t see its infamous poverty.

A 1,640-foot brick wall has been hastily erected in Ahmedabad ahead of Trump’s visit with critics saying it was constructed to block the view of a slum area inhabited by more than 2,000 people.   

It will shield the president as he arrives at the stadium to attend an event called ‘Namaste Trump,’ which translates to ‘Greetings, Trump.’

The event will be along the lines of a ‘Howdy Modi’ rally attended by Modi and the president in Houston last September. That rally attracted 50,000 people. 

To get to the stadium, Trump will drive along a road next to the slum.

Indian senior government official Bijal Patel told the Associated Press the wall was built ‘for security reasons’ and not to conceal the slum.

The ‘Namaste Trump’ event will happen at Motera Cricket Stadium

Workers decorate the hastily constructed wall in Ahmedabad

President Trump and Prime Minister Modi at last year’s ‘Howdy Modi’ summit in Houston

‘Apart from security reasons, the wall is also part of a beautification and cleanliness drive,’ she said.

Tensions between the U.S. and India have increased since Trump  levied tariffs on steel and aluminium from India.

India responded with higher tariffs on agricultural goods and restrictions on U.S. medical devices.

The Trump administration retaliated by removing India from a decades-old preferential trade program.

‘We could have a trade deal with India, but I’m really saving the big deal for later on. We’re doing a very big trade deal with India. We will have it,’ Trump said Tuesday. ‘I don’t know it will be done before the election, but we will have a very big deal with India.’