Can anything possibly trump Trump?
You bet: the fabulous welcome he will receive in Ahmedabad, next Monday, and Indian TV coverage of his two-day visit. The US President has not seen anything like either – and probably never will.
In language he would appreciate, it’s ‘gonna be just great’ — why, Indian television news channels have already laid out the welcome coverage, one week in advance.
And then, of course there’s ‘The Beast‘ — the sleek, black limousine the US president uses.
More than Donald and Melania, Indian TV news is wonderstruck by the president’s ‘car’, his ‘flying fortress’ (as CNN News18 called Air Force One) and his security detail, each of which they have scrutinised in detail.
For instance, here is Zakka Jacob of CNN News18 on Trump’s, er, vehicle: it costs $1.5 million, it can seat seven people, it is bullet and blast-proof, it can withstand a chemical attack (even coronavirus doesn’t stand a chance), its handles are electrified (what a shock!), it carries medical supplies, a refrigerator full of blood in Trump’s blood group —and it flies out in its own plane, just like the President.
On Tuesday, ABP was so impressed by the security preparations for Trump that it clean forgot the lessons from the tell-all media coverage of Mumbai’s 26/11 terror attack, and revealed many particulars that should perhaps have remained secured. It followed American secret servicemen in Agra and Ahmedabad, pointed out their gun boxes, claimed there were seven teams for round-the-clock security, gave away snipers’ positions and security arrangements along the 22-km drive from the Ahmedabad airport to Sabarmati Ashram.
Also read: When Modi says Namaste to a Republican Trump, he shouldn’t forget Democrats matter too
The “7 million” Indians waiting to welcome Trump
As the “buzz grows for Namaste Trump”, Times Now decided to travel down the road well-travelled to Sabarmati, which Mirror Now said had now been especially re-tarred and bedecked with flowers in Trump’s honour. As it started off in its car (a veritable mouse compared to The Beast), you could (almost) see the “seven million” people Trump is claiming Modi promised him along the route, waving and smiling.
This is not an impossible feat: if news channels can subject videos of the 15 December Jamia Millia Islamic University violence to “forensic’’ scrutiny (ABP), investigate each frame in magnified size (Aaj Tak) and discover stones in the hands of a student, instead of the wallet he carried (fact-checked by AltNews), then to conjure up seven million people should be child’s play, right?
Onto Mirror Now which gave us a sneak preview of the visit to Sabarmati Ashram: a lady, Pratima, kindly demonstrated the spinning of the charkha; News X described the “50 stages” of the road show that will be dotted with song and dance performances — if that doesn’t beat anything the Trumps have seen, nothing will….
The other tourist attraction is ‘The Wall’. Now, this is a very special treat for Donald T and something he will really appreciate: most news channels have shown us walls along the route being plastered with a fresh coat of paint (India Today), or else new walls being bricked up.
This is not because the government wants to hide the filth or shanty towns along the way, as some anti-Modi media have suggested, but that his Gujarati hosts know Trump has a weakness for walls.
Times Now then took us to the final showpiece of the Ahmedabad visit: Motera, the spanking, newly-built cricket stadium – arguably the largest in the cricketing world – where “a Howdy, Modi-like mega, mega event will be held…’’
Also read: Trump and Modi meeting when India-US partnership is strained. And then there’s China
Making Trump feel at home
We are told Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan heads the VIP guest list to meet Trump but Indian TV viewers will be unimpressed because we see Big B at least two or three times a day in television commercials.
It all sounds very grand and grandiose, a befitting welcome for the leader of “one of the world’s largest democracies” (second-largest after Bharat mata) and “one of the richest men in the world” (715th-richest currently, according to Forbes), as the Mirror Now reporter put it.
How else can we make Trump feel right at home? Two ideas: provide the president with a multi-screen wall in his bedroom that will exclusively broadcast at least 10 Indian news channels. Trump is accustomed to sleeping with Fox News and the enemy, CNN – or waking up with them by his side. He will be delighted by the fulsome coverage of his visit, he may want to appear on some of them…
Also read: For Times Now and others, Vadra-Sonia link is more important than Indian economy
Alternatively, he could have visited Bigg Boss (Colors TV), which ended just last weekend but could have been extended to host him. Trump once had his own reality show — The Apprentice — so he’d have been quite comfortable there. Moreover, there is so much bickering, backbiting and chaotic confusion in the Bigg Boss home that it would have reminded Donald Trump of his own little nest — the White House.
Namoste Trump!
The print is a channel comprising of journalists ,editors who know how to bootlick their propietor.The print is a blot in the name of journalism.
A welcome to U.S President must be as spectacular and grand as possible. Perhaps we have forgotten those days when America treated us with scorn and apathy. The greatest welcome to an American President was displayed when we hosted the visit of Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1959, in Delhi.