It’s been an awkward few months for Hindu nationalists who have been eagerly awaiting Trump’s return to the White House.

There have been a few wins.

Strategic and defence ties between India and the US seem stable for now, following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the White House. Modi claimed that like Trump’s quest to “Make America Great Again” (MAGA), he too strived to “Make India Great Again” (MIGA). He added, “When America and India work together, when it’s MAGA plus MIGA, it becomes mega – a mega partnership for prosperity.”

Kash Patel has been confirmed to lead the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Born to Gujarati parents, he has been vocal about his Hindu identity and even voiced support for the construction of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya in 2024, on the ruins of a 16th-century mosque demolished by a Hindu nationalist mob back in 1992.

Yet Trump’s return has also exposed an underbelly of anti-Indian racism in the MAGA-verse.

In late December, an apparent “civil war” broke out in the MAGA-verse and Indian Americans were at the centre of it. The trigger was Donald Trump’s appointment of Indian American venture capitalist Sriram Krishnan as senior policy adviser to the White House for Artificial Intelligence (AI). Krishnan’s appointment coincided with MAGA debates over the H1B visa scheme that brings skilled foreign workers to the US. Many in Trump’s camp have long insisted that its beneficiaries – mostly Indians – undercut the American workforce.

Many Trump loyalists, like “far-right provocateur” Laura Loomer, were outraged at the appointment. Loomer posted on X: “It’s alarming to see the number of career leftists who are now being appointed to serve in Trump’s admin when they share views that are in direct opposition to Trump’s America First........

© Al Jazeera