President Donald Trump on Sunday joined two foreign leaders for events
in Texas and Ohio before heading to New York for a week of meetings
with world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly.
Breaking away from the staid formality of meetings at the White House,
Trump first took the stage with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at
a Houston stadium where tens of thousands of people many from the
city’s large Indian diaspora filed in for an event dubbed “Howdy,
Modi.”
He then flew to Wapakoneta, Ohio, to tour an Australian-owned
cardboard manufacturing plant alongside Australian Prime Minister
Scott Morrison, who Trump feted with a state dinner on Friday.
The events were an opportunity for both Modi and Morrison to show the
US President they can deliver in ways that are especially appealing to
Trump.
In the critical battleground state of Ohio, Morrison demonstrated
that his country is contributing to the US economy and creating
manufacturing jobs as the two men tour a Pratt Industries
manufacturing facility.
And in Houston, Modi appealed directly to Trump’s crowd-craving
sensibilities with an anticipated 50,000 person crowd packing into
Houston’s NRG Stadium, giving Trump a rally setting where he tends to
thrive and feel invigorated.
And beyond the immediate effects, Modi could also be giving Trump a
bump in his battle for reelection. The rally gave Trump an opportunity
to appeal to Indian-American voters in Harris County, which has been
at the heart of Texas’ gradual shift from reliably Republican to
competitive battleground.
The events came as Trump continues to face questions about whether he
pressured Ukraine’s president to investigate former Vice President and
2020 Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son, Hunter,
while withholding military aid to the country. Trump has defended the
call, dubbing criticism of it a “Ukraine Witch Hunt,” while Biden on
Saturday accused Trump of abusing the power of his presidency.
There is no evidence of wrongdoing by either Joe or Hunter Biden.
Trump cap off his Sunday travel with a flight to New York, where he
will address the United Nations General Assembly later in the week and
meet with world leaders on its sidelines.
