President Trump will host his first dinner at the White House for a foreign dignitary next week when he welcomes Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Washington on Monday, a senior White House official said on Friday.
“I think that, you know, it would be wrong to say that this administration has been ignoring or not focused on India,” the official said.
Administration officials have been laying the groundwork for Modi’s high-profile visit next week for more than two months, the White House official said.
“I think the preparations started long ago,” the official noted.
Modi and Trump are expected to discuss “burden sharing,” defense ties, economic issues and clean energy, among other topics, the official said. Continuing the White House’s recent pattern of elevating a different policy issue each week, the official added, Trump will pay particular attention to energy-related issues because next week will be “Energy Week.”
The two leaders will not conduct a press conference on Monday, despite the fact that Trump has held a joint press conference with many other visiting foreign leaders. The official cautioned reporters not to “read too much into” the decision to skip a traditional press conference, citing “preferences” of the two leaders.
Instead, Modi and Trump will “each give a press statement” before a cocktail reception and “working dinner.”
Trump has not yet hosted a diplomatic dinner at the White House. He has, however, had two separate dinners with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese President Xi Jinping at Mar-a-Lago, his Palm Beach, Fla., estate.
The senior White House official noted Modi and Trump are two of the most-followed world leaders on social media.
