US President Donald Trump projects himself as the great dealmaker, the man who can bend the world to America’s will with his sheer instincts. But instincts are not policy, and tweets or Truth Social posts are not diplomacy. When a superpower conducts its foreign policy by impulsive outbursts on social media, it undermines credibility not just with rivals but also with allies. Trump’s foreign policy is riddled with contradictions, so much so that it is difficult to even call it a policy. It looks more like a sequence of self-promoting stunts, intended to show strength in the moment, without regard for consequences.

Foreign policy requires patience, foresight, and continuity. Trump offers none of these. His approach is transactional, rooted in the mindset of a Manhattan real estate hustler, where winning means humiliating the other party. He confuses bullying for negotiation and short-term bragging rights for long-term strategic gains. America has the luxury of power, but reckless decisions from its leader carry costs that others are forced to pay. For India, these contradictions have already left scars on a relationship that was built carefully and patiently for two decades.

Trump’s attacks on India reveal both ignorance and arrogance. His repeated labelling of India as the “tariff king" was not only undiplomatic but also factually misleading. India negotiated in good faith for an interim trade deal, but Trump threw it away because it was not one-sided enough for him to parade as a personal triumph.

Unlike the EU, Japan, or Gulf monarchies, which mollified him with massive LNG contracts and defence purchases, India refused to barter its sovereignty. Trump’s response was to slap........

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