U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade advisor, Peter Navarro, has accused India of “profiteering” from the Ukraine war by importing discounted Russian crude oil, even as data shows Washington itself has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of the conflict.
Navarro, a long-time Trump aide, has repeatedly criticised New Delhi’s energy purchases from Moscow. His remarks come despite Washington’s booming defence exports, which have risen sharply since the outbreak of the war.
Washington’s Billion-Dollar Jackpot
According to the Observer Research Foundation, global defence spending reached $2.72 trillion in 2024, the steepest increase since the Cold War. Between 2020 and 2024, Ukraine’s arms imports grew by over 9,600 per cent, making it the world’s largest arms importer. Nearly half of those imports came from the United States.
By 2025, the nature of U.S. support to Kyiv shifted from aid to sales. In August this year, Washington approved an $825 million missile deal for Ukraine covering 3,350 Extended Range Attack Munitions.
Crucially, these developments are unfolding during Trump’s second term, leaving little scope to attribute the conflict’s trajectory to the Biden administration.
The Trump administration has also used NATO platforms to push allies to contribute more. At the July 2025 NATO meeting, members were asked to provide $500 million arms “packages” for Ukraine. Countries including the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Germany and Canada committed funds, taking pledges close to $2 billion by August.
Defence Giants Cash In
At the NATO Summit in The Hague, Trump pressed European partners to raise defence spending to 5 per cent of GDP by 2035, more than double the previous benchmark. Analysts say U.S. defence contractors such as Lockheed Martin, Boeing, RTX, General Dynamics and Northrop Grumman stand to gain significantly, with American arms exports rising from 35 per cent of the global market before the war to 43 per cent in 2024.
Trump’s Double Standards
The controversy doesn’t end with Navarro. Trump himself has struck a contradictory note. Publicly, he hails Prime Minister Narendra Modi as his “very good friend” and promises smooth trade negotiations. Yet behind closed doors, he has urged the European Union to impose tariffs of up to 100% on Indian goods, according to The Financial Times.
On China, however, Trump is more cautious. Keen to avoid a rupture in U.S.-China relations, he has steered clear of imposing such extreme tariffs directly on Beijing, instead leaning on Brussels to do the heavy lifting. With China, he retreats. With India, he bullies.
The Bigger Picture
As Navarro attacks India on social media, even lashing out at X users for fact-checking his claims through Community Notes, the larger picture is clear. Under Trump’s second term, the U.S. has transformed the Ukraine war into a trillion-dollar arms bonanza, while targeting allies like India with tariffs and rhetoric.
For Washington, war is not just geopolitics, it’s business. And for Navarro, blaming India is easier than confronting the U.S.’s own profiteering.
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