While on a trip to India to hawk luxury apartments, Donald Trump Jr. stopped by the CNBC TV18 studios to promote the new Trump-branded properties in Gurgaon, a suburb of New Delhi. While extolling the virtues of the Indian people, Don Jr. employed his usual grace and self-awareness to discuss why India’s poor people are some of his favorite poor people in the world.
“I don’t want to be glib but you can see the poorest of the poor and there is still a smile on a face,” the senior Trump Organization executive said. “It is a different spirit than that which you see in other parts of the world and I think there is something unique about that.”
Don Jr. could have stopped there, but he didn’t.
“I know some of the most successful businessmen in the world,” Don Jr. said, “and some of them are the most miserable people in the world.”
All in all, the first son’s praise of the destitute’s folksy charm stretched out for an excruciating one minute and 23 seconds.
Don Jr. was praising the unbreakable spirit of India’s poor while promoting Trump Towers apartments costing between $775,000 and $1.5 million in a luxury real estate market that NBC News described as “overheated.” Although New Delhi residents tend to earn three times the average income as people living in the rest of the country, according to Asia Times, the average per capita income is $4,700 for 2016 to 2017.
Don Jr.’s presence in India is a bit of an ethical minefield. Although the family is barred from seeking out new foreign deals while President Trump is in office, this deal was in the works before he took office. The Trump Organization executive’s trip is complicated by the fact that he’s scheduled to make a foreign policy speech on Friday at a business summit featuring an appearance by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. That’s an odd stop on the itinerary for someone who claims to be completely divorced from the proceedings inside his dad’s administration.
