Trump vs Narendra Modi: Explosive EVM Allegations?

Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Donald Trump for the first time since Trump’s return to the White House on January 20, 2025, for his second term as U.S. President. During their meeting, both leaders emphasized their strong diplomatic relations and the importance of boosting trade agreements. However, concerns loomed over Trump’s reciprocal tariff policies that could have significant economic implications for India.

Amid this backdrop, a video from a joint press conference featuring Donald Trump has surfaced online. In the clip, Trump discusses Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), paper ballots, and single-day elections. The video is circulating on social media with a caption indicating that Trump has said Modi won by EVM cheating, fooling 140 crore fools. This claim suggests that Trump accused Modi of electoral fraud and questioned the legitimacy of India’s elections.

An account with the username @muralitwit shared this clip and wrote: “Modi, the 1st illiterate PM, was elected by the EVMs and the biased CECs, and NOT by the People. And that’s why, in the US, he not only proved himself but also turned India into a Global Comedy Piece”

A viral tweet by user Muralidharan Gopal (@muraliwit) claims that former US President Donald Trump accused Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi of winning elections through EVM manipulation. The tweet criticizes Modi, calling him 'the 1st illiterate PM' and alleging that biased election officials helped him win. The attached video thumbnail features Trump speaking at a podium, with bold Hindi and English text that reads, 'Trump said Modi won by EVM cheating, fooling 140 crore people.' The Hindi caption questions Modi’s response to Trump's alleged statement. The post has 278.8K views as of February 28, 2025, at 4:37 PM. — Link

In addition, other users also shared this video and made similar claims. The preview link can be seen here.

Fact-Check

To investigate the claim, the DFRAC team searched for the latest conference conducted by US President Donald Trump. We found the full video of the latest conference on the YouTube account of Hindustan Times with the Date Feb 22, 2025. Examining this video, we found that Trump did not target or accuse PM Modi of winning elections by manipulating EVMs. Trump has been found preferring paper ballots over EVMs and condemning mail-in voting and electronic voting machines, claiming they’re susceptible to fraud.

Not only this, we also came across a transcription dated Feb 13, 2025, of the joint press conference which was held between President Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the official website of The White House. At no point in the official transcript does Trump say, “Modi won by EVM cheating, fooling 140 crore people fools.

Furthermore, we also found a report by The Print, published after Feb 17, 2025, that cited US President Donald Trump’s support for ballot papers during a joint press conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi has provided fresh ammunition to India’s opposition, which has been critical of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and demanded a return to paper ballots. Surprisingly, nowhere in the report is mentioned that Trump has targeted or cheated PM Modi concerning election fraud.

Conclusion

It is evident from DFRAC’s fact-check that the viral video claiming Trump accusing PM Modi for EVM Fraud has been misleadingly shared on X. In reality, Trump endorsed Paper Ballots for elections and condemned EVMs in one of his joint conferences with PM Modi. Additionally, he used the ballot papers reference in context to the US elections.