From ‘Modi’s war’ to ‘Brahmins profiteering’: Trump's trade adviser's another bizarre tariff defence

White House trade adviser Peter Navarro on Sunday accused India’s Brahmins of “profiteering at the expense of the Indian people” as he defended President Donald Trump’s decision to impose 50% tariffs on Indian goods.

Speaking to Fox News, Navarro alleged that New Delhi had become “nothing but a laundromat for the Kremlin” by purchasing Russian oil, and, in a bizarre remark, accused Brahmins of benefiting from the trade.

“I want Indians to understand what is going on. Brahmins are profiteering by buying Russian oil at the expense of the Indian people,” he said.

The remarks add to a string of controversial comments from Navarro linking India to Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Pressed on whether he meant to say “Putin’s war,” Navarro doubled down: “I mean Modi’s war, because the road to peace runs, in part, through New Delhi.”

India’s imports of Russian crude rose to 1.6 million barrels per day in July, more than 30% of its total, according to trade data. Navarro said Washington could lower tariffs “tomorrow” if India ended the purchases.

Trump’s executive order last month doubled tariffs on most Indian imports to 50%, the steepest duties imposed on any US trading partner alongside Brazil.

Navarro, while praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi as “a great leader” presiding over “a matured democracy,” accused Indian officials of arrogance for asserting that energy policy was a matter of sovereignty.

“India, you are the biggest democracy in the world. Act like one. Side with democracies,” he said.

External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar has denounced the US duties as “unjustified and unreasonable,” saying Washington was applying double standards by focusing on India while overlooking Europe’s and China’s far greater energy trade with Russia.

“The issue of decisions which we make in our national interest is our right. And I would say that’s what strategic autonomy is about,” Jaishankar said.