'Where do you find reporters like these?': Day after mocking Pakistani journos, Trump pulls out similar line with Indian scribes

Prime Minister Imran Khan was left red-faced on Monday when a bunch of Pakistani journalists were mocked by US president Donald Trump for their questions on Jammu and Kashmir. Trump met Khan on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly and the two leaders discussed bilateral ties, the Kashmir issue, and the faltering Afghan peace process. The two held a joint press interaction, during which the Pakistani media — angered by India’s revocation of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir — posed a volley of questions to Trump on the situation in the Valley. [caption id=“attachment_7396451” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan and US president Donald Trump on Monday. AP[/caption] A Pakistani journalist asked Trump about the situation in Kashmir, saying, “You are asking both the parties to accept and agree. One is aggressor, violator of the UN resolutions, non-compliant plus you know, merging Kashmir into its own territory….” Trump took a dig at him and asked, “Are you from his (Imran Khan) team? You are making a statement, not asking a question.” He, however, went on to answer the journalist’s query and said if India and Pakistan wanted to “iron out” some points, he’d make an “extremely good arbitrator”. When a Pakistani journalist again pressed Trump about the alleged human rights violations in Kashmir, Trump turned towards Khan and asked him, “Where do you find reporters like these?” Not surprisingly, a day later, when Indian reporters were haranguing Trump over Pakistan and its role in terrorism, Trump made a similar comment: “You have great reporters, I wish I had reporters like these… You guys are doing better than anybody I’ve ever heard. Where do you find these reporters? This is a great thing.”

While everyone, including prime Minister Narendra Modi, burst into laughter after Trump made the remark on Tuesday, a day earlier, a squirming Khan was seen counting his tasbih (prayer beads) when Trump had taken a similar swipe at the Pakistani journalist. The mood and tone of the Modi-Trump press briefing, however, was clearly different. At the same press conference, Trump called Modi the Elvis Presley of India.

When Trump was asked to respond to the ’the statement coming from the Pakistani PM admitting that the Pakistani ISI trained Al-Qaeda’, the US president said, “I have not heard that and I know that your Prime Minister will take care of it.” Trump has a history of accusing media outlets of propagating “fake news”. His snarky remarks on Monday and later on Tuesday have found many takers on social media.

The meeting between Trump and Khan and later with Modi took place amid soaring tensions between India and Pakistan over the revoking of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status. On 5 August, India had announced its decision to scrap provisions under Article 370 to make the Indian Constitution applicable in its entirety to Jammu and Kashmir. With inputs from agencies