The practice of celebrating Diwali in the White House was started by Trump's predecessor Barack Obama, in 2009. This is Trump's third Diwali celebration in the White House, having also celebrated the festival there in both 2017 and 2018

New Delhi: US President Donald Trump on Sunday tweeted a video of him lighting Diyas at the Oval Office in the White House, two days after he sent greetings to all those celebrating the festival of lights.

The US President tweeted, “As Diwali commences, First Lady Melania and I wish those observing the Festival of Lights a blessed and happy celebration. Happy Diwali.”

Earlier, in his Diwali statement, Trump had laid emphasis on religious liberty, saying that the celebration of Diwali in the US was an important reminder of one of the core values of the nation, i.e religious liberty. In the statement, he also said, “For those celebrating it, the festival is an opportunity to commemorate the victory of light over darkness, good over evil.”

He had also vowed that his administration would continue to work to defend the right of the American people to pray and worship according to the religion of their choice.

The practice of celebrating Diwali in the White House was started by Trump’s predecessor Barack Obama, in 2009. Trump celebrated his first Diwali in the White House in 2017 with members of the Indian-American community. In 2018, he had invited the then-Indian ambassador to the US, Navtej Singh Sarna at the White House Diwali event.

The five-day festival is currently in full swing in India with today, i.e October 27, being the main day of the festival. It officially began with Dhanteras on Friday and ends on Tuesday with Bhai Dooj.