Before India, Donald Trump will celebrate Diwali in White House
What's the story
United States President Donald Trump will celebrate Diwali at the White House on Thursday, three days before the festival of lights will be celebrated in India. This will be the third time that Trump will be participating in Diwali festivities. The tradition to celebrate the festival in the White House was started by his predecessor Barack Obama in 2009. Here are more details.
Details
Trump has been celebrating Diwali for years now
Without divulging many details about the celebrations, the White House said Trump will light a diya later this week. In 2017, when he celebrated the festival for the first time, Trump was joined by a select group of Indo-Americans. Last year, he called Navtej Singh Sarna, the Indian envoy at the time, for the function. However, his tweet about the celebration got him slammed.
Looking back
Last year, Trump "forgot" Diwali is a Hindu festival
Trump, known for making blunders on Twitter, didn't mention Hindus in his tweet on Diwali. He made the error TWICE. He had tweeted that Diwali is "observed by Buddhists, Sikhs, and Jains throughout the United States & around the world," when the festival is essentially celebrated by Hindus. Only after he was mercilessly slammed did Trump make a reference to Hindus in another tweet.
Twitter Post
Trump gave Twitter users valid reason to school him
Trump's Twitter account posted a Diwali tweet that didn't mention Hindus, then deleted it, then... reposted it again with a different link but still no Hindus? pic.twitter.com/6zRqLzOA0r
— Tom Phillips (@flashboy) November 13, 2018
Friendship
Interestingly, Trump spoke about Modi during Diwali celebrations
Now, Trump mentioned Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi both in 2017 and 2018, when he celebrated Diwali. "The United States has deep ties to the nation of India and I am grateful for my friendship with Prime Minister Modi," he said last year. To recall, their bonhomie was on display for the world to see after Trump attended Texas' Howdy Modi rally in September.
Celebrations
Separately, Texas Governor Greg Abbott celebrated Diwali last week
Meanwhile, Diwali celebrations have already started in the US. On Saturday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott rang in the festival with Indian-Americans. "Tonight we celebrated the Festival of Lights with the Indian-American community in Texas. We lit Diwali lamps on display in the Governor's Mansion. We discussed Prime Minister Modi's visit to Texas. We celebrated the victory of light over darkness," he tweeted.
Twitter Post
Take a look at Abbott's tweet
Tonight we celebrated the Festival of Lights with the Indian-American community in Texas.
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) October 21, 2019
We lit Diwali lamps on display in the Governor’s Mansion.
We discussed Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Texas.
We celebrated the victory of light over darkness.@narendramodi #Diwali pic.twitter.com/Il91EBBvFl
Details
In fact, October has been all about celebrations
This month, US-based Hindu Swayamsevak Sangha (HSS) celebrated Vijay Dashami in 35 locations across the US, which was attended by nearly 7,000 people including youngsters, adults, and children. At one of the celebrations in Illinois, Indian-American Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi said, "I hope and pray that all of us subscribe to the idea of 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam' (the world is one family)."