US President Donald Trump is confident that Washington and New Delhi will reach a final trade deal.
“We will make a deal. I like Prime Minister Narendra Modi very much; he is a good friend of mine and we get along very well. And we will make a deal“, the American leader said, answering questions from reporters at the White House.
“India has been taking advantage of the United States for years. They are charging us incredible tariffs and they are not paying anything“, the American president also believes. “We are not charging them anything“, he added. “And now it is the other way around. And we make a lot of money from India,” Trump stressed.
Since February 2025, New Delhi and Washington have been negotiating a comprehensive trade agreement that aims to increase bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030. India is seeking to eliminate or reduce tariffs on all of its industrial exports from the United States, as well as to exempt it from high U.S. tariffs on a wide range of food and agricultural products. India has expressed its intention to increase its purchases of energy products, aircraft and technology from the United States over the next five years.
India and the United States have already finalized the first part of the trade agreement. Its provisions were to be translated into a legal document, which the two countries planned to sign in March, but that has not yet happened. Earlier this month, negotiators from both sides met in the Indian capital. According to Indian officials, they reaffirmed their commitment to a mutually beneficial bilateral trade agreement.
Trump announced that the National Capital Planning Commission has approved the construction of a triumphal arch in Washington.
„We express our deepest gratitude to the National Capital Planning Commission for approving, by a vote of 8 “yes“ to 1, the construction of a Grand Triumphal Arch at the base of the Arlington Memorial Bridge, a structure that has been waiting to be built for more than 200 years“, the American leader wrote in Truth Social.
Trump emphasized that in his opinion, when the structure is completed, it “will be the greatest arch of all“.
Earlier “The Washington Post“ reported that the Trump administration believes that Congressional approval is not needed to build a 250-foot-tall triumphal arch for the country's 250th anniversary. According to the publication, the White House intends to base the project on a 1925 congressional resolution that approved plans to build a memorial complex near Arlington National Cemetery.