Uproar over Trump Calling India, China “Hellholes,” Suggesting Change in Birthright Citizenship Law

Rohit Kumar

NEW DELHI, Apr 23: After a political storm broke out over Mr Donald Trump bracketing India with China and some other nations as “hellholes” suggesting changes in the birthright citizenship act, the US President on Thursday issued a clarification on his comment on India with a statement through Washington’s Embassy in New Delhi.

“The President has said, ‘India is a great country with a very good friend of mine at the top’,” a US Embassy spokesperson said. The statement, however, gives no rejoinder to his “hellholes” comment.

Trump on Thursday posted a transcript of a conservative political talk show hosted by Michael Savage, which referred to India, China and some other nations “hellholes,” meaning the places from where people come to Washington in their ninth month of pregnancy and instantly become US citizens.

The text that Trump shared mainly criticizes the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), accusing it of backing policies that allegedly benefit undocumented immigrants over US citizens, adding that “the country has been stolen from us by these effing lawyers.” The host, whose ideology aligns with that of the US president, was arguing against US birthright citizenship, which guarantees automatic citizenship for almost anyone born within US territory, regardless of parentage.

Mr Trump’s statement comes after his “hellholes” remark caused widespread uproar in India. “US President Trump has called India a ‘HELLHOLE.’ This statement is extremely insulting and anti-India. It hurts every Indian. Prime Minister Narendra Modi should take up this matter with the US President and register a strong objection,” a post from Congress on X read.

Congress leader Supriya Srinate vehemently opposed Trump’s remarks. “How dare Donald Trump call India a “hellhole”? How dare he refer to Indians as “gangsters with laptops”? He made these remarks in the US Supreme Court on the birthright citizenship issue. We must oppose this vehemently,” she said.

The ministry of external affairs shied away from directly responding to Trump’s comment or making any statement on his social media repost. The MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal just said they have “seen some reports.”

“We have seen some reports. That’s where I leave it,” Jaiswal said while responding to a question on Trump’s repost.

Mr Trump had American political commentator and radio host Michael Savage’s podcast, where he referred to India, China and other nations as “hellholes.” In his racist rant calling for changes in the United States’ birthright citizenship law, Savage alleged that people from the two Asian nations come to the US to “drop a baby in the ninth month,” and the law turns them into “instant” US citizens. The Republican president also shared the transcript and video of Savage’s podcast ‘Savage Nation’, where he slammed the US Supreme Court’s arguments on birthright citizenship.

The radio host attacked the idea of ​​automatic citizenship for children born in the US to non-citizens, calling for a national referendum instead of leaving it to the courts. “A baby here becomes an instant citizen, and then they bring in their entire family from China, or India, or some other hell-hole on the planet,” he wrote in the letter.

The letter also describes Indian and Chinese immigrants as “gangsters with laptops” who have “stepped on our flag.” “They’ve done more damage to this nation than all the mafia families put together. In my unhumble opinion. Gangsters with laptops. They’ve robbed us blind, treated us like second-class citizens, let the true world triumph, stepped on our flag, et cetera,” he wrote. Savage claimed he “used to be a great supporter of Indians in India” until, according to him, he realized the prospect of “white men” getting jobs at a high-tech company in California was ‘nil.’

Savage argued that these issues should not be decided in courts, adding that “it is not really about law.” Instead, he said they should be decided by public opinion. He also criticized the US Constitution, saying it cannot be changed because it is “written in stone.”

“You have to be from India or China because almost all the internal mechanisms are set up to run by Indians and Chinese.” Savage alleged the current system was being exploited through “birth tourism” and welfare abuse and argued that the US Constitution was outdated in the context of modern migration.

“The Constitution was written before air travel, needless to say before television, before the internet, before radio, and you could say, how relevant are some of these arguments when people are coming here by airplane in the ninth month of their pregnancy,” he wrote.

Trump reported Savage’s racist rant on his Truth Social platform a day after he made false claims that “no country in the world” offers birthright citizenship other than the United States during an interview with CNBC. In reality, about three dozen countries provide automatic citizenship to people born on their soil, including US neighbors Canada and Mexico and the majority of South American countries.

Trump has long called for ending birthright citizenship in the US. In January 2025 after taking over the Oval Office for the second term, Trump signed an executive order to stop automatically granting citizenship to those born in the US in specific scenarios.

Legal consensus, however, broadly holds that the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution guarantees birthright citizenship. The matter is being heard by the Supreme Court. The US Supreme Court, earlier this month, heard arguments in the Trump vs Barbara case that challenges the Republican leader’s executive order.

Speaking about the upcoming ruling on the issue, Trump said, “If they rule against our Country on Birthright Citizenship, which they probably will, it will cost America massive amounts of money but, more importantly, it will cost America its DIGNITY!”