Behind Trump’s Tough Talk on Pakistan, Follow the Money

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Since gaining office, President Donald Trump has dramatically changed U.S. policy in South Asia—for reasons that have only a little to do with international affairs.

Trump has taken a much harsher approach toward Pakistan than any previous American leader. In a direct, confrontational statement, Trump warned in August: “We can no longer be silent about Pakistan’s safe havens for terrorist organizations, the Taliban, and other groups that pose a threat to the region and beyond.”

The U.S. President then exhorted India to perform a bigger role in Afghanistan. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson made similar pronouncements during a recent visit to the region. The Trump Administration has also withheld a portion of the money the United States gives to Pakistan as reimbursement for the “war on terror.”

Trump’s tough talk on Pakistan is driven to a large extent by personal monetary considerations.

But herein lies the rub: As with much in Trump’s governance, his tough talk and agitation of Pakistan-India relations is driven to a large extent by personal, monetary considerations.

The Trump business network currently has at least five luxury apartment and building projects in several of India’s major urban centers. “President Trump’s eldest son, Donald Jr., is expected to launch two residential projects in India for the Trump Organization in the coming weeks, despite concerns over the President’s potential conflicts of interest with foreign governments,” The Washington Post reported last month.

A seventy-five-story tower in Mumbai is being built by a key state politician from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Licensing arrangements in the country have raked in at least $1.6 million for Trump’s company and perhaps as much as $11 million in royalties since 2014, according to the Post.

The Trump Organization has exactly zero properties in Pakistan.

Further fueling Trump’s bottom-line considerations, he has a deep-pocketed Indian-American backer with a strong animosity toward Pakistan and Muslims. Electronic magnate Shalabh “Shalli” Kumar channeled $2 million to Trump during the presidential campaign—and spent more than $3 million organizing an event in New Jersey at which Trump made an appearance. The then-presidential candidate expressed great admiration for Hindus and Prime Minister Modi, and pledged to work closely with India, if elected.

At Kumar’s urging, Trump recorded an ad that may be one of the strangest in the annals of campaign history. Trump speaks in Hindi and mimics Modi’s campaign slogan “Abki Baar, Modi Sarkaar” (“This Time, a Modi Government”), substituting his own name for Modi’s. Trump also utters the golden words “radical Islamic terrorism” while an image appears of the Taj Mahal hotel in Mumbai that terrorists attacked in 2008, bringing India and Pakistan close to war.

Kumar has been in close touch with Trump since the inauguration. He was invited to attend an exclusive function at the White House in October to celebrate the Hindu festival Diwali, even including a photo-op in the Oval Office.

Kumar believes Trump’s reign has the potential to create in the United States an era akin to that of Ram Rajya—the mythical rule of the Hindu God Rama held up by devout Hindus as an ideal. He presented Trump with a plaque to that effect during their Diwali meeting.

Kumar’s Republican Hindu Coalition has created fissures within the Indian-American community. “Nationalistic Hindus, in the United States especially, project themselves as the vanguard of a U.S.-India-Israel alliance,” UCLA Professor Vinay Lal told The Progressive. “They see [it] as ‘natural’ and desirable owing to the real or alleged threats faced by the three democracies from radical Islam.”

True, there are other reasons for Trump’s hardline approach toward Pakistan. Trump and Modi share an anti-Islam, tough-on-China worldview. (In fact, Modi outdoes Trump in his anti-Muslim animus—he was barred from the United States for almost ten years for presiding over a pogrom in the state of Gujarat that killed thousands, mostly Muslims.)

“Both are nationalists—indeed extreme nationalists,” says Lal.

But such affinities go only so far in explaining Trump’s recent actions in South Asia. As is often the case with Trump, if you want to understand his impulses, you need to follow the money.

Amitabh Pal worked at The Progressive for eighteen years, including twelve as managing editor. He is now writing a book about Trump and Modi.