After days of incendiary remarks from him and his aides that rattled New Delhi, US President Donald Trump on Friday moved into damage control, insisting that relations with India remain “special” and that there is “nothing to worry about.”
Only hours earlier, Trump had posted on Truth Social that the US had “lost India and Russia to China.” But speaking at the White House, he softened his stance: “I don’t think we have lost India. I am disappointed that India is buying Russian oil and I’ve made that clear—with very big tariff, 50% tariff. But I will always be friends with Modi. He is a great Prime Minister… I just don’t like what he is doing at this moment. India and the United States have a special relationship. There is nothing to worry about.”
The remarks followed India’s firm rejection of Washington’s demand to stop Russian oil purchases. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman told CNN-IBN: “Where we buy our oil from, especially a big-ticket foreign exchange item, we will have to take a call on what suits us best. We will undoubtedly be buying (Russian oil).”
Commerce minister Piyush Goyal struck a more conciliatory note, calling the trade dispute a “temporary wrinkle” that would not derail a “consequential relationship.”
Meanwhile, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick escalated tensions with a blunt list of demands: stop buying Russian oil, exit BRICS, and strike a trade deal with Trump within two months—after saying “sorry.”
White House trade adviser Peter Navarro fanned flames further, dismissing criticism of his rhetoric as “Leftist American fake news” and branding India “Kremlin’s laundromat.” Navarro, already ridiculed in the US for fabricating quotes in his book, has also floated tariffs on foreign remote workers—including India’s outsourcing sector—a move that could push ties into uncharted waters.
Still, Trump wrapped up with a lighter note about his rapport with Modi, recalling a joint Rose Garden press conference: “I get along very well with Modi. We had a news conference on the grass—it was soaking wet. Everyone sunk in, reporters ruined their shoes. It was my last news conference on the grass. But it was very well received.”
