Trump had the same thing to say to Indian and Pak media: ‘Where do you get reporters like these?’

On the sidelines of the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly, PM Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump held a joint interaction with the media, replete with plenty of mutual back-patting and praise. This included Trump calling Modi “an American version of Elvis” and that their “personal chemistry is as good as it can get”.

Towards the end, amid a barrage of questions on what Trump though of Pakistan, India Today‘s Gaurav Sawant asked Trump, “Is there a roadmap to deal with Pakistan state-sponsored terror?” Trump turned to Modi and said, “You have great reporters, I wish I had reporters like this.” Turning back to the media, he said, “You’re doing better than anybody I’ve ever heard. Where do you find these reporters? This is a great thing.”

Modi laughed, there was a round of giggles among the media, and Trump answered the question: “You have a great prime minister, he’ll solve everything. I have no doubt about it.”

It’s not the first time Trump’s said that about reporters though: Yesterday, during a similar interaction with Imran Khan, a Pakistani journalist asked Trump about the current situation in Kashmir. Trump’s response was to ask Khan: “Where do you find reporters like these? Are you from his (Khan’s) team? You’re making a statement, not asking a question.”

Trump is known to attack the US press when faced with tough questions, at times calling it the “enemy of the people”. A compliment from someone who’s made news for his attacks on the media should ideally make Indian (and Pakistani) journalists sit up and self-reflect a little. Of course, India Today didn’t think so.

Update: India Today‘s deleted the tweet, but here’s a handy screenshot: