US President Donald Trump’s senior trade adviser, Peter Navarro, has renewed his attacks on India, accusing New Delhi of profiteering from Russian oil imports, only to be publicly fact-checked by X, which flagged his claims as misleading and “hypocritical.“The episode is the latest flare-up in Washington’s tense trade and foreign policy standoff with India, following Trump’s decision to impose punitive secondary tariffs of over 50 per cent on Indian exports.
Navarro targets India on oil trade
In his latest post, Navarro accused India of driving Moscow’s war machine by importing discounted Russian crude.“FACTS: India highest tariffs costs US jobs. India buys Russian oil purely to profit/Revenues feed Russia war machine. Ukrainians/Russians die. US taxpayers shell out more. India can’t handle truth/spins,” Navarro wrote in a late-night post.Navarro, a longtime hawk on global trade, has made India a frequent target in recent weeks, labeling the Russia-Ukraine war “Modi’s war” and accusing New Delhi of running a “laundromat for the Kremlin.” He has gone so far as to call Prime Minister Narendra Modi the “Maharaj of tariffs” and, in one controversial outburst, invoked caste to allege Indian refiners were “Brahmins profiteering at the expense of the Indian people.”
X’s fact-check pushback
But this time, Navarro’s claims didn’t go unchallenged. X appended multiple community notes under his post, correcting his assertions.The fact-checks stressed that India’s Russian oil purchases are made for “energy security” and do not violate any international sanctions. They also highlighted that:
- The US runs a trade surplus with India in services.
- The US itself continues to import billions in Russian goods, including uranium, despite its criticism of India, exposing what they called a “clear double standard.”
- India did not breach international law with its sovereign decisions on energy imports.
“Navarro’s claims are hypocritical,” one note bluntly said.
Navarro hits back — and blasts Musk
The Trump aide was quick to fire back, accusing Elon Musk of allowing “propaganda” into the platform’s fact-check system.“Wow. @elonmusk is letting propaganda into people’s posts. That crap note below is just that. Crap. India buys Russian oil solely to profiteer. It didn’t buy any before Russia invaded Ukraine. Indian govt spin machine moving high tilt. Stop killing Ukrainians. Stop taking American jobs,” Navarro wrote.
Tariff war strains ties
The back-and-forth comes amid deteriorating India-US trade relations. Hours after Trump’s new tariffs took effect, Navarro blamed New Delhi for fueling Russia’s invasion and accused it of “profiteering” at the expense of the West.Recently, PM Modi attended the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Tianjin, China. In widely circulated images, PM Modi was seen warmly greeting Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin, a moment that underscored the shifting balance as Trump tightened trade screws on India.Days later, Trump appeared to second-guess his own hard line. He initially claimed the US had “lost India to China” but quickly walked it back.“I don’t think we have (lost India),” Trump said. “I’ve been very disappointed that India would be buying so much oil from Russia. I let them know that. We put a very big tariff on India — 50 per cent, a very high tariff. I get along very well with PM Modi, as you know. He was here a couple of months ago, in fact we went to the Rose Garden and had a press conference.”Trump added that India-US ties remain “a very special relationship” and stressed he and PM Modi would “always be friends.”
PM Modi’s measured response
Responding to Trump’s comments, PM Modi struck a conciliatory note.“Deeply appreciate and fully reciprocate President Trump’s sentiments and positive assessment of our ties. India and the US have a very positive and forward-looking Comprehensive and Global Strategic Partnership,” the prime minister said in a statement.
