Meat-loving Donald Trump braces for a beef-free menu in India 

Donald Trump, known for his love of a hamburger or a steak, could find eating in India a challenge where cows are considered sacred by country’s Hindu majority.

In many parts of India, the slaughter of cows is illegal, meaning beef is rarely on the menu. Even the McDonald’s restaurants serve chicken or fish on their menus instead of beef.

And Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a Hindu, is a strict vegetarian, who plans to serve the president accordingly, CNN reported. 

It will be a change in pace for President Trump, who enjoys steak with ketchup and sings the praises of fast food chains like McDonald’s, Burger King and KFC. He once famously served fast food at a White House reception.

‘I have never seen him eat a vegetable,’ one person who has dined frequently with Trump told the network.

Donald Trump, known for his love of hamburgers and steaks, is headed to India where beef is not on the menu

President Trump sings the praises of fast food; he's seen here eating a McDonald's hamburger during the 2016 presidential campaign

President Trump sings the praises of fast food; he’s seen here eating a McDonald’s hamburger during the 2016 presidential campaign

Ivanka Trump posted a throw back photo to her instagram account earlier this month, showing her eating McDonalds with her dad on the campaign trail

Ivanka Trump posted a throw back photo to her instagram account earlier this month, showing her eating McDonalds with her dad on the campaign trail

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a Hindu, is a strict vegetarian, who plans to serve the president accordingly

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a Hindu, is a strict vegetarian, who plans to serve the president accordingly

Cows are considered sacred by India's Hindu majority

Cows are considered sacred by India’s Hindu majority

President Trump once famously served fast food at a White House reception

President Trump once famously served fast food at a White House reception

Even McDonald's in India serve chicken or fish - not beef

Even McDonald’s in India serve chicken or fish – not beef

Meals are an important part of state visits where business is conducted over breakfast, lunch and dinner.

While in India, the president and first lady will attend a state dinner on Tuesday night at Rashtrapati Bhavan, the ornate presidential palace. The president will also have a formal lunch with Modi. 

Aides told CNN the menus will be finalized at the last-minute.

The president is unlikely to starve. Staff tend to ensure Trump has his favorite foods at all times. For example, when Trump returned to Florida after a Thanksgiving visit to Afghanistan, hamburgers were served on Air Force One instead of a traditional holiday meal. 

But it’s unclear what will end up on his plate while he spends two days in India.

‘I don’t know what he’s going to do in this case. They don’t serve cheeseburgers,’ a former official told CNN. 

President Trump is something of a reluctant traveler who prefers the comforts of his own bed or a familiar setting. For his four-day trip to the West Coast last week, he returned to Las Vegas every night to sleep at his Trump hotel there.

He and the first lady will only spend one night on the ground in India before returning to the United States. 

And if the food isn’t to the president’s usual tastes, he will likely enjoy other items on the menu, particularly Monday’s rally at the biggest cricket stadium in the world. 

The event will take place at Motera Stadium in Modi’s home state and the president bragged it could be the biggest event India has ever seen.

‘I hear it’s going to be a big event. Some people say the biggest event they’ve ever had in India. that’s what the prime minister told me – this’ll be the biggest event they’ve ever had. So it’s going to be very exciting,’ he told reporters at the White House Sunday as he prepared to leave for India. 

Trump loves a crowd and Modi is expected to deliver. 

The stadium the president will visit holds 110,000 people. Supporters are expected to be lined up along the 14-mile route Trump will travel from the airport to the stadium but it remains to be seen how many will appear. 

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump depart the White House for a two-day trip to India

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump depart the White House for a two-day trip to India 

Melania Trump is joining the president for the state visit

Melania Trump is joining the president for the state visit

Rapid Action Force (RAF) personnel stand guard at the cricket stadium ahead of Trump's visit

Rapid Action Force (RAF) personnel stand guard at the cricket stadium ahead of Trump’s visit

Billboards welcoming the Trumps have been hoisted around the towns of India they will be visiting

Billboards welcoming the Trumps have been hoisted around the towns of India they will be visiting

A monkey sits on a billboard featuring Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump

A monkey sits on a billboard featuring Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump

A road is fumigated in Ahmedabad ahead of Trump's visit

A road is fumigated in Ahmedabad ahead of Trump’s visit

And the place will be spick and span for the president.  

Workers have cleaned the roads and erected billboards welcoming the first couple. And a four-foot wall has been built to hide the nation’s infamous slums, which house more than 2,000 people, from the Trumps’ view. 

Trump and Melania’s Schedule in India 

Monday: Trumps arrive in Ahmedabad

Event with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Motera Stadium, the world’s largest cricket stadium

Then the first couple will travel to Agra to visit the Taj Mahal

First couple then travels to Delhi, where they will stay the night 

Tuesday will include ceremonial events, bilateral meetings, and business event with Indian investors

Trump will have a meet-and-greet with embassy staff

He will have a one-on-one meeting with Prime Minister Modi 

He will meet with Ram Nath Kovind, the president of India 

First couple will attend a state dinner at the presidential palace, called Rashtrapati Bhavan

Trumps depart for the United States on Tuesday evening

Modi loyalists and police will line the road side in Ahmedabad – where the Trumps land Monday – to greet the first couple in the kind of pomp and circumstance the president adores – providing a grand lead-up to the world’s largest largest cricket stadium where Trump will hold the biggest rally of his presidential career. 

Trump loves a big crowd and Monday’s rally, billed as ‘Namaste Trump,’ will feature over 100,000 cheering fans. Trump’s campaign rallies average between 10,000 and 20,000 depending on the venue size.

Trump said last week 7 million people in total would be out to welcome him, which would include the 14-mile route from the Ahmedabad airport to Motera Stadium.  

‘He told me we’ll have seven million people between the airport and the event,’ Trump said last Tuesday.

Two days later, he raised crowd estimates. 

‘I hear they’re going to have 10 million people,’ he said at a campaign rally. ‘They say anywhere from six to 10 million people are going to be showing up along the route to one of the largest stadiums in the world.’

It’s unclear how many will actually appear to cheer the president on his route but it is unlikely to be 10 million and may not hit six digits. 

Ahmedabad has a population of eight million. 

Modi’s government is dropping more than $14 million, according to the Associated Press, to woo President Trump as the two countries are embroiled in a trade war that shows no signs of abating.  

Indian officials have cleaned up and cleared out the areas of its poshest neighborhoods in preparation for the Trumps’ two-day visit. 

The president and first lady will spend their only night in the country in New Dehli’s Chanakyapuri neighborhood. 

City officials have cleaned up the area, erecting giant blue tarps to shield the couple from the jungle-like park nearby.

And ‘Welcome’ signs featuring pictures of the president and first lady have been posted on the streets where the Trumps’ motorcade will travel.  

But, officials have not been able to get rid of its growing monkey population, which  sit along the main streets watching cars go by. 

Border Security Force (BSF) soldiers march on the route that President Donald Trump will travel in Ahmadabad

Border Security Force (BSF) soldiers march on the route that President Donald Trump will travel in Ahmadabad

A billboard shows India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump ahead of the Trumps' visit

A billboard shows India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump ahead of the Trumps’ visit

Trumps will likely see more monkeys than people on visit to India

Trumps will likely see more monkeys than people on visit to India

Rhesus monkeys are a common sight in India

Rhesus monkeys are a common sight in India

The monkeys have been a source of concern, particularly at the Taj Mahal, which the first couple will visit on Monday evening. As many as 700 rhesus macaques live among the 17th century mausoleum’s walls and gardens in the city of Agra. 

They have taken to harassing tourists to the nation’s most famous landmark so badly that guards deploying catapults are present to fend them off. Extra ‘monkey security’ will be on hand to ensure there won’t be a diplomatic incident.

Modi has made the clean-up a priority as he prepares to negotiate with Trump over a trade war that erupted after the president levied tariffs on steel and aluminium from India.  

India responded with higher tariffs on agricultural goods and restrictions on U.S. medical devices.  In retaliation, Trump stripped the country of its preferential export status.

‘They’ve been hitting us very hard for many, many years,’ Trump said this past week of the tariffs. Although he added: ‘I really like Prime Minister Modi.’ 

Experts predict not much progress will be made and the White House has downplayed expectations.

‘I don’t expect any details or much progress at all,’ top economic adviser Larry Kudlow told Fox News on Friday. 

The glitzy events may not be enough to cover the tensions that have mounted between the two countries. 

The pressure is going to be especially tough on Modi, who is struggling to turn around India’s downward spiralling economy. 

Monkeys have been harassing tourists who visit the Taj Mahal

Monkeys have been harassing tourists who visit the Taj Mahal

A monkey searches for food on the river bank near the Taj Mahal in India, where Donald Trump and his wife Melania are expected to visit next week

A monkey searches for food on the river bank near the Taj Mahal in India, where Donald Trump and his wife Melania are expected to visit next week 

Monkey police will be on hand at the Taj Mahal to prevent a diplomatic incident while the Trumps visit the famous monument to love

Monkey police will be on hand at the Taj Mahal to prevent a diplomatic incident while the Trumps visit the famous monument to love

President Trump will be joined on the trip by daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner – who are advisers in the White House – Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, and adviser Stephen Miller.  

The one night the first couple will spend in the country will be in the capital city’s poshest and most inclusive neighborhood. 

Modi’s official residence is in this diplomatic enclave of New Delhi, where the U.S. Embassy and its private school sits behind fenced-in compounds. 

Other nations house their embassies in the neighborhood, which was established by the British during their rule and features wide open spaces, parks, and few utility disruptions.

The Trumps and their entourage also will enjoy a state dinner at the Rashtrapati Bhavan – the presidential palace. 

The 340-room sits on 320 acres of land with beautiful gardens. 

But before the Trumps arrive in Delhi, they will stop at the most famous monument in India – the Taj Mahal.

The white marble tomb has been cleaned and polish for the presidential visit.

The 25,000 visitors who stop by every day will be kept away while the Trumps are there but the heavy security presence may not deter the monkeys that have made their home around the Taj. 

‘If such a large troop of monkeys attacks Donald Trump’s entourage, it will be a disaster,’ one local resident told India Today.  

Experts say the animals are becoming more aggressive as an expanding city encroaches on their natural habitats. 

Brij Bhushan, head of the Taj Mahal security force, said last year that police had received locally-made slingshots to fend off the monkeys. 

‘We found that monkeys get scared by just seeing us brandishing these slingshots,’ he said at the time.  

The Taj was built in the 17th century by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan as a tomb for his wife Mumtaz Mahal. She was his favorite spouse and died giving birth to their 14th child. He is also buried there.

To make Trump’s trip run smoothly, Indian officials have also been pouring fresh water into the Yamuna river that runs alongside the Taj Mahal to help stifle its smell, caused by raw sewage and waste being tipped into the waterway.

The Trumps will attend a state dinner at the presidential palace in New Delhi

The Trumps will attend a state dinner at the presidential palace in New Delhi

Students paint on canvas faces of President Donald Trump, his wife Melania, and India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the street in Mumbai

Students paint on canvas faces of President Donald Trump, his wife Melania, and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the street in Mumbai

Officials have built a wall in Ahmedabad to hide the slums from Trumps' visit

Officials have built a wall in Ahmedabad to hide the slums from Trumps’ visit

The world's biggest cricket stadium will be formally opened on Monday by President Trump

The world’s biggest cricket stadium will be formally opened on Monday by President Trump

The river is so polluted in some places that no marine life can survive in it. 

Workers also have scrubbed walls and fountains at the white-marble monument so it will be spick and span for the Trumps’ visit.

It’s unusual for the president to visit a cultural site – his trips to other countries are usually focused on meetings with officials and business at hand – but Trump could have a special interest in the Taj Mahal. 

During his building days in the 1980s, he built the Trump Taj Mahal hotel and casino in Atlantic City. It opened in 1990 and cost nearly $1 billion to construct. 

It came to closing in 2014 as its parent company went through bankruptcy, but ultimately remained open under the new ownership. It was sold again in October 2016 to the Hard Rock Cafe and reopened under that name.  

 

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk