Trump Lights the Diwali Lamp at the White House, Receiving the Hanuman Chalisa in the Oval Office
President Donald Trump hosted a Diwali celebration in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Friday, November 6, personally lighting a traditional diya lamp alongside invited Indian American entrepreneurs, community leaders and administration officials marking Hinduism's festival of lights. The gathering appeared on the White House's official schedule for 1:30 p.m. EST and was closed to the press; Diwali itself falls on Sunday, November 8 this year.
According to India's IANS news agency, Indian technology entrepreneur Vishal Gondal, founder of the health platform GOQii, presented Trump with a copy of the Hanuman Chalisa — the hymn to Hanuman composed by the 16th-century poet Tulsidas and recited by millions for courage, devotion and strength. "Honored to celebrate Diwali with President Trump and proud to gift him with a copy of the Hanuman Chalisa," Gondal wrote on X. As the diyas were lit, he added, his prayer was "for friendship between India and America, and for the triumph of light over darkness."
India's ambassador to the United States, Vinay Kwatra, attended the celebration. The roughly half-hour programme, which included presidential remarks and the lamp lighting, listed Secretary of State Marco Rubio, FBI Director Kash Patel, National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya, IBM chief executive Arvind Krishna, Micron Technology chief executive Sanjay Mehrotra and chef Vikas Khanna among the participants, and multiple outlets reported Rubio and other officials present.
White House Diwali observances began in 2003 under President George W. Bush. In 2009, Barack Obama became the first sitting president to personally light a diya at the White House, at a ceremony in the East Room. The tradition has continued since as an annual occasion on which the White House recognizes the contributions of Indian Americans to the nation's economic, cultural and civic life. (Source: The White House)
Source: The White House
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：白宫北立面全景（本部大楼固定图；本场排灯节庆祝在椭圆形办公室闭门举行，无官方现场图发布）。图片：Aaron Zhu，CC BY-SA 3.0，经Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: The White House north facade (official building file photo; the Diwali celebration was held behind closed doors in the Oval Office and no official event photo was released). Credit: Aaron Zhu, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
