Peter Navarro, a former Senior Counsellor for Trade and Manufacturing under US President Donald Trump, reacted strongly to a community note on X (formerly Twitter) that corrected misinformation regarding India’s purchases of Russian oil. Navarro labeled the note as “crap” and accused Elon Musk of allowing “propaganda” to be disseminated. He reiterated his claims that India is buying Russian oil solely for profit. Navarro’s remarks were made in response to a Washington Post article discussing the conflicting efforts within the Trump administration to improve relations with India. In a previous post, Navarro claimed India’s tariffs harm US jobs and that India’s oil purchases fund the Russian war effort.
This follows comments made by the Ministry of External Affairs of India, which dismissed Navarro’s statements as “inaccurate and misleading.” Despite Navarro’s criticism, President Trump has expressed optimism about US-India relations, describing them as a “very special relationship” and affirming his friendship with Prime Minister Modi. Modi reciprocated Trump’s sentiments, calling the US-India partnership “forward-looking.”