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Doug Bandow
Aug 14, 2025
The president should focus on governing America, not controlling world events.
In early July, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth praised India and its military cooperation with America. Announced the Pentagon: “Secretary Hegseth emphasized the priority the United States places on India as its key defense partner in South Asia. Secretary Hegseth and Minister Singh reviewed the considerable progress both countries have made toward achieving the defense goals set out in the February 2025 joint statement by President Trump and Prime Minister Modi.”
In fact, Narendra Modi and Donald Trump seemed to be best buddies during the president’s first term. Reported the Washington Post: “The men shared bear hugs, showered praise on each other and made appearances side by side at stadium rallies—a big optics boost for two populist leaders with ideological similarities. Each called the other a good friend.” The bromance resumed after Trump’s second inauguration, with the Indian prime minister being one of the first foreign leaders to visit the White House.
Alas, that was then, this is now. This month Trump slapped a 25 percent tariff on Indian goods, then doubled it to 50 percent. He sneered that India had a “dead” economy, even though it is growing faster than America’s own economy—indeed, India has recently enjoyed the world’s fastest growing major economy. Worse, complained the president, India’s government and people buy Russian oil, “They don’t care how many people in Ukraine are being killed by the Russian War Machine,” he charged. Yet the president never punished Saudi Arabia for killing Yemenis or Israel for killing Palestinians, though both nations inflicted mass death with American arms.
What, then, is Trump’s real motivation for targeting New Delhi? Unfortunately, the president is acting like he was elected global gauleiter. He told The Atlantic: “The first time, I had two things to do—run the country and survive,” but “the second time, I run the country and the world.” In this, he sounds like his addled predecessor, who declared, “not only am I campaigning, but I'm running the world. Not—and that's not hi—sounds like hyperbole, but we are the essential nation of the world.” However, Joe Biden, though deluded, was neither as ambitious nor brazen as Trump, whose goals appear unbounded.
The latter told Canada it could escape his tariffs by accepting absorption by America, and he threatened to forgo a trade agreement if Ottawa recognized the state of Palestine. He’s talked or hinted of military action against Denmark, Greenland, Mexico, and Panama. He’s meddled in domestic politics in Brazil, Israel, and South Korea to defend favored political leaders from legal accountability. He even proposed that the U.S. empty Gaza of Palestinians and seize their land. The administration has used tariffs in attempts to coerce countries to follow other U.S. policies, such as opposing an international effort to tackle greenhouse gas emissions from global shipping. Finally, the president is seeking to impose a settlement to the Russia–Ukraine war. Indeed, he took personally Vladimir Putin’s resistance, stating that he is “very disappointed” and “we just don’t see any progress being made,” as if the Russian leader could be expected to sacrifice his nation’s interests to pacify the American president’s personal pique.
New Delhi, in Trump’s view, should act similarly. “They’re buying Russian oil, they’re fueling the war machine,” he fumed. “And if they’re going to do that, then I’m not going to be happy.” Why is the president singling out India, with which the U.S. once enjoyed a burgeoning partnership, even as Turkey and the People’s Republic of China also purchase Russian oil? He criticized India’s protectionist trade practices, though the same charge could be made against Ankara and Beijing, which has just received another extension to continue trade negotiations. He also complained about the BRICS organization, of which New Delhi is a member, for seeking to reduce international reliance on the dollar. Yet the “C” in BRICS stands for “China.”
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Article continues:
www.theamericanconservative.com
Aug 14, 2025
The president should focus on governing America, not controlling world events.
In early July, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth praised India and its military cooperation with America. Announced the Pentagon: “Secretary Hegseth emphasized the priority the United States places on India as its key defense partner in South Asia. Secretary Hegseth and Minister Singh reviewed the considerable progress both countries have made toward achieving the defense goals set out in the February 2025 joint statement by President Trump and Prime Minister Modi.”
In fact, Narendra Modi and Donald Trump seemed to be best buddies during the president’s first term. Reported the Washington Post: “The men shared bear hugs, showered praise on each other and made appearances side by side at stadium rallies—a big optics boost for two populist leaders with ideological similarities. Each called the other a good friend.” The bromance resumed after Trump’s second inauguration, with the Indian prime minister being one of the first foreign leaders to visit the White House.
Alas, that was then, this is now. This month Trump slapped a 25 percent tariff on Indian goods, then doubled it to 50 percent. He sneered that India had a “dead” economy, even though it is growing faster than America’s own economy—indeed, India has recently enjoyed the world’s fastest growing major economy. Worse, complained the president, India’s government and people buy Russian oil, “They don’t care how many people in Ukraine are being killed by the Russian War Machine,” he charged. Yet the president never punished Saudi Arabia for killing Yemenis or Israel for killing Palestinians, though both nations inflicted mass death with American arms.
What, then, is Trump’s real motivation for targeting New Delhi? Unfortunately, the president is acting like he was elected global gauleiter. He told The Atlantic: “The first time, I had two things to do—run the country and survive,” but “the second time, I run the country and the world.” In this, he sounds like his addled predecessor, who declared, “not only am I campaigning, but I'm running the world. Not—and that's not hi—sounds like hyperbole, but we are the essential nation of the world.” However, Joe Biden, though deluded, was neither as ambitious nor brazen as Trump, whose goals appear unbounded.
The latter told Canada it could escape his tariffs by accepting absorption by America, and he threatened to forgo a trade agreement if Ottawa recognized the state of Palestine. He’s talked or hinted of military action against Denmark, Greenland, Mexico, and Panama. He’s meddled in domestic politics in Brazil, Israel, and South Korea to defend favored political leaders from legal accountability. He even proposed that the U.S. empty Gaza of Palestinians and seize their land. The administration has used tariffs in attempts to coerce countries to follow other U.S. policies, such as opposing an international effort to tackle greenhouse gas emissions from global shipping. Finally, the president is seeking to impose a settlement to the Russia–Ukraine war. Indeed, he took personally Vladimir Putin’s resistance, stating that he is “very disappointed” and “we just don’t see any progress being made,” as if the Russian leader could be expected to sacrifice his nation’s interests to pacify the American president’s personal pique.
New Delhi, in Trump’s view, should act similarly. “They’re buying Russian oil, they’re fueling the war machine,” he fumed. “And if they’re going to do that, then I’m not going to be happy.” Why is the president singling out India, with which the U.S. once enjoyed a burgeoning partnership, even as Turkey and the People’s Republic of China also purchase Russian oil? He criticized India’s protectionist trade practices, though the same charge could be made against Ankara and Beijing, which has just received another extension to continue trade negotiations. He also complained about the BRICS organization, of which New Delhi is a member, for seeking to reduce international reliance on the dollar. Yet the “C” in BRICS stands for “China.”
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Article continues:
Trump Shouldn’t Push India to the Dark Side
The president should focus on governing America, not controlling world events.
