Hours after claiming that the United States has “lost” India and Russia to China, US President Donald Trump says he is “very disappointed” that India continues to purchase large volumes of oil from Russia, adding that his administration had imposed a very big tariff on New Delhi in response.
“I’ve been very disappointed that India would be buying so much oil, as you know, from Russia. And I let them know that. We put a very big tariff on India. 50 per cent tariff, very high tariff,” Trump told reporters when asked about his earlier post suggesting Washington had “lost” India to China.
Despite his criticism, Trump underlined his personal relationship with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “I get along very well with Modi, as you know. He’s great. He was here a couple of months ago,” Trump said.
He also recalled a light moment from PM Modi’s recent White House visit. “We went to the Rose Garden and it was, the grass was so soaking wet. Such a terrible place to have a news conference. I said, let’s use a beautiful white stone emblematic of the White House. And it’s been very well received,” Trump recounted.
“But we had a news conference on the grass. That was my last news conference I had on the grass, because everybody sunk in. You probably sunk in, every reporter out there. They ruined their shoes. We made that change. It’s been a really well-received change.”
This comes just after Trump shared a picture of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his Truth Social account, where he is seen with Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping at the Tianjin meet.
Hours earlier, the US President hinted that ties between Washington and New Delhi had hit rock bottom, saying the United States had “lost” India and Russia to “the darkest China.” His remarks came days after the three leaders were seen together at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Tianjin.
Prime Minister Modi and Russian President Putin were among several world leaders who attended the Tianjin SCO Summit hosted by China’s Xi Jinping. The camaraderie between the three leaders was highlighted as “a turning point” and “a new world order” amid the tariff war waged by the US President.
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