New Delhi: US President-elect Donald Trump is working at hypersonic speed when it comes to laying out his policies and, more importantly—from India’s point of view—deciding on his Cabinet.
His national security adviser pick, Michael Waltz, was the co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans. Marco Rubio, reportedly the finalist for secretary of state, floated the US-India Defense Cooperation Act to expand bilateral cooperation with India.
Robert Lighthizer, who could return as US trade representative, has worked closely with Union Minister Piyush Goyal in his previous stint as trade czar during Trump’s first term.
Fox News host Pete Hegseth and former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe, whom Trump has assigned the role of defence secretary and Central Intelligence Agency chief, respectively, are well-documented China hawks.
With US-India ties in mind, these appointments are particularly important.
Despite tensions on tariffs, in Episode 1552 of #CutTheClutter, Editor-in-Chief Shekhar Gupta looks at the full list of potential appointments to the incoming Trump administration and how it could benefit the Washington-New Delhi relationship.
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