Former White House trade adviser Peter Navarro lashed out on social media after being fact-checked for his claims regarding India’s purchase of Russian oil.
Navarro, who served as Senior Counsellor for Trade and Manufacturing under President Donald Trump, dismissed a community note on X (formerly Twitter) as “propaganda” and doubled down on his accusations that India was profiting from Russian oil imports.
“Wow. @elonmusk is letting propaganda into people’s posts. That crap note below is just that. Crap. India buys Russia oil solely to profiteer. It didn’t buy any before Russia invaded Ukraine. Indian govt spin machine moving high tilt. Stop killing Ukrainians. Stop taking American job,” Navarro posted.
His comments followed an earlier claim that India’s tariffs hurt American workers and that its oil trade indirectly funded Russia’s war effort in Ukraine. He made the remarks in response to a Washington Post article describing tensions within the Trump administration over India policy.
Navarro criticized the report, calling India’s tariffs job-killers and reiterating, “India buys Russian oil purely to profit/Revenues feed Russia war machine. Ukrainians/Russians die. U.S. taxpayers shell out more. India can’t handle truth/spins @washpo Leftist American fake news.”
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) swiftly rebutted Navarro’s statements. Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said at a weekly press briefing, “We have seen the inaccurate and misleading statements made by Navarro, and obviously, we reject them.”
Despite Navarro’s incendiary remarks, President Trump recently praised India-US ties, calling them a “very special relationship” while affirming his personal friendship with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
PM Modi responded warmly, noting that India and the US share a “positive and forward-looking Comprehensive and Global Strategic Partnership.”