US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has claimed that the India-USA trade deal didn’t take place despite multiple rounds of talks because President Donald Trump was upset that PM Narendra Modi didn’t call him. He made the claims while talking to venture capitalist and entrepreneur Chamath Palihapitiya on the podcast All-In Podcast.
Lutnick was responding to the question of why the US-India trade deal has not taken place, when similar deals with other countries and the EU have taken place. As per Lutnick, the U.S. signs trade deals with one country at a time within a deadline, and if that deadline is passed, the deal will not take place.
He also claimed that the first country to sign the deal will get the best deal, and for every subsequent trade deal, it will get costlier. For example, the trade signed by the fifth country will be costlier for that country compared to the previous four nations.
He talked about the first deal they signed with the UK, saying that the deadline to sign it was a Friday. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer called President Trump on the previous Thursday, talked about the deal, and it was finalised. After that, people asked which country would be the next, and Trump talked about India several times publicly, Howard Lutnick added.
He said that India was given three Fridays to finalise the deal, adding that ‘Trump is the deal closer, he does the deal.’ He then said that he told the Indian side, “You have to have Modi call the President”, adding, “they were uncomfortable doing it. So Modi didn’t call”. As a result, the deal didn’t take place, he claimed.
Lutnick added that US signed deals with several other countries after that, like Vietnam, Japan, Philippines, Indonesia, etc. And therefore, India was no longer eligible for the original as its number was pushed down. Lutnick also claimed that India called him back after these deals, but he said that the train already left the station three weeks ago, and therefore the deal didn’t take place. He added that India’s place was between UK and Vietnam, and India could not sign the deal on time, it went further back in the line.
He said, “Because we negotiated them and assumed India was going to be done before them, I have negotiated them at a higher rate. So now the problem is the deals came out at a higher rate. And then India calls back and says, ‘Oh, okay, we are ready’. I said, ready for what. You know, it was like three weeks later. I go, ‘Are—are you ready for the train that left the station three weeks ago?”
Lutnick’s comments that the India-US trade deal didn’t take place because PM Modid didn’t call President Trump came just days after Trump claimed that Modi requested to meet him over delay in delivery of Apache helicopter. “India ordered 68 Apaches, and Prime Minister Modi came to see me. Sir. May I see you, please? Yes,” Trump said while talking at the House GOP Member Retreat.
#BREAKING: US President Donald Trump says, "I have a very good relationship with PM Modi, but he is not happy with me as India is paying high tariffs. But now they have reduced it very substantially, buying oil from Russia." pic.twitter.com/tzCG3041xs
— OSINT Spectator (@osint1117) January 6, 2026
He also added that he knows that Modi is not happy with him because of high tariffs imposed on Indian exports to USA. It is not known when this conversation took place, even if it took place, as Trump didn’t mention it.
Using the Trump’s claims, Congress party shared an AI-generated video showing PM Modi pleading to Donald Trump on various issues. But the fact is, Trump’s claims on the Apache helicopter deal with India is completely wrong. Trump claimed that India ordered 68 Apache helicopters from USA, which is not true. India has ordered 28 of the helicopters, and all of them has been delivered.
Importantly, 22 of the helicopters were delivered by 2020 under a deal signed in 2015. A new deal for 6 additional helicopters was signed in 2020 scheduled to be delivered by 2024, but it was delayed. The helicopters were finally delivered last year, in two batches of 3 choppers each. The first batch was delivered in July 2025, and the second batch in December.
India had been taking up the issues of delay in supply of American military equipment, including the GE engines, but it is highly unlikely that PM Modi offered to go to USA to meet the president only for the Apache helicopters. Moreover, the first batch was already delivered in July and the second batch was assured, therefore it didn’t remain a big issue after that.
