Embracing his alignment with top business executives, US President Donald Trump hosted Diwali celebrations for an impressive group of Indian American CEOs on Tuesday afternoon (US time). Important administration officials of Indian origin (or those who follow Hindu faith, or simply celebrate the Festival of Lights), including FBI Director Kash Patel and National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard, were also by the 79-year-old commander-in-chief’s side.

Lighting diyas in the Oval Office, Trump also extended warm Diwali wishes to the people of India. Before individually praising each tech leader, Trump collectively hailed them as “the biggest business people anywhere in the world.” Welcoming them all to the White House, the MAGA leader first called out Tulsi Gabbard‘s name. While she doesn’t share an Indian link, Gabbard is a proud follower of the Hindu faith.

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Tulsi, in turn, applauded the US president for hosting the Diwali event at the White House. “You are doing today what you have done throughout your time in service… bringing people together from all across the country and different backgrounds,” she said. “This day is of course very special to so many of us… While [today] is a celebration of hope, light, and renewal, we can never forget that the source of that hope, light, and renewal comes from God’s love for every single one of us.”

On the flip side, Kash Patel expressed heartfelt honour in being a “first-generation Indian-American whose parents lawfully immigrated to this country.”

Here are all the people of Indian descent (and their families) who were at the Oval Office Diwali bash, according to the POTUS’ announcements in the room.

Indian American CEOs at Trump’s White House Diwali celebrations

  • Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen
  • Micron Technology CEO Sanjay Mehrotra
  • IBM CEO Arvind Krishna
  • Palo Alto Networks CEO Nikesh Arora

Each one of them made big promises to Trump about making staggering investments in the US. In addition to Micron spending $200 billion in the country, including investments in chip manufacturing and research and development, Mehrotra told the POTUS these positives will ultimately make way for 19,000 additional jobs in the US.

Indian-origin Trump admin officials at the White House Diwali

  • FBI Director Kash Patel
  • Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon
  • Ambassador of India to the US Vinay Mohan Kwatra (whose name Trump mispronounced)
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Straying from his prior presidential message to the US, wherein he solely wished “Americans” a Happy Diwali, Trump’s latest White House event shared a lot of in-person face time with Indian-origin people despite his growing displeasure with immigration. Numerous Republican politicians have even voiced their displeasure with “legal immigration” in the recent past, blatantly blaming the H-1B visa category for toppling American workers. Not even an inkling of that discourse made its way into the Oval Office Diwali celebrations.

Nonetheless, that didn’t stop others from the MAGA camp to drag Indians in the US, and those celebrating the Hindu Festival of Lights. Countless comments disturbing labelling Hindu Gods as “false” or “pagan” gods became a contentiously hot topic on social media while Trump, on the off-hand, was pictured lighting diyas alongside members of the Indian diaspora in rare departure from his usual immigration rhetoric.