On August 27, Trump pulled the trigger, slapping punitive duties on $48 billion worth of Indian exports. The effects are immediate: exporters scrambling to reroute shipments, fears of layoffs, even talk of bankruptcies. This is pain India cannot deny. The fault lies with Donald Trump and his advisors, who have chosen a spectacularly bad policy treating a friend as an enemy and undoing years of progress.

Instead of isolating India, they have exposed Washington’s own hypocrisy, sharpened New Delhi’s resolve to defend its sovereignty and de-risk its economy. This is India saying: we will not be bullied. And the world is taking note. Which is adding to the Trump administration’s woes. Just take a look at Trump tariff advisor Peter Navarro’s latest meltdown. If this trade war seems unhinged, Navarro’s behaviour proves it.

Once branding India the “Kremlin’s laundromat", he’s now calling Ukraine “Modi’s war". You must’ve heard this war being termed “Putin’s war" or “Biden’s war"—but Modi’s war? That’s a stretch. This incoherent, desperate rhetoric is also a dangerous smear campaign against India. Navarro accuses India of profiteering without admitting why India turned to Russian oil in the first place: because the US and Europe shifted to traditional Indian suppliers, driving prices above $120 a barrel.

India’s timely purchases averted inflationary chaos at home and stabilised global oil markets at the peak of the war. Navarro also does not acknowledge that if India stops buying Russian oil, then global oil prices will soar to as high as $200 per barrel. Even Biden’s administration knew this, quietly structuring a price-cap understanding with India to keep global oil affordable. That was realism.

But Trump’s hypocrisy doesn’t end there. Alongside Ukraine talks, Washington has privately explored Exxon Mobil’s return to Russia’s Sakhalin project, proposals for selling equipment to Russia’s LNG sector, and even buying Russian icebreakers. If India buying discounted oil is immoral, what exactly is this?

A Battle Over Sovereignty and Control

This is why it is suspected that Trump’s........

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