Modi ‘tough cookie’, ‘great leader’ who has been in power for over 12 years, says Trump
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- Trump praised Modi in an Axios interview, calling him a 'great leader' and 'very tough cookie' who has held power for more than 12 years, adding that Modi leads with 'a great calmness, and yet he's not a calm person.'
- Trump named Modi and China's Xi Jinping as the two leaders he admires most for their 'power and leverage, and the ability to execute on that,' saying of both: 'If you were going to make a movie about either one of them, you wouldn't be able to find the man in Hollywood.'
- Trump highlighted India's 1.5 billion population — 'India's actually the biggest' — and credited Modi for 'staying out of wars, which is smart.'
- Trump said the U.S. and India 'do fair business' now after India 'used to really rip us off,' while conceding 'they're not that happy about it because they used to do a lot better.'
- Trump and Modi met on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in France on June 17, 2026, in an effort to repair a relationship that has been under strain over the past year.
- Trump also listed Pakistan's Army Chief Asim Munir and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif as leaders he admires.
Why it matters: Trump publicly elevating Modi as one of two leaders he most admires signals a deliberate reset of the U.S.-India relationship after a year of strain, with Trump framing India as a 'fair' trading partner while admitting New Delhi is unhappy. Pairing Modi and Xi as 'power and leverage' equals reveals how Trump sees the geopolitical map heading into the G7, and his simultaneous praise for Pakistan's civilian and military leaders underlines that balancing act.
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