Have you seen the latest scene between Trump and Modi? It’s all over the news headline today. So, picture this: Trump’s on Air Force One yesterday, chatting with reporters, and he drops this line about India buying the Russian oil. He praises, “PM Modi’s a very good man. He’s a good guy. But he knew I wasn’t happy with the decision. It was important to make me happy.” And then he adds, “We can raise tariffs on them very quickly – it’d be very bad for them.
Classic Trump, right? He’s basically saying, hey India, cut back on that Russian crude or I’ll slap even more tariffs on your stuff. We’re already at 50% on a bunch of Indian exports because of this oil thing – 25% regular and another 25% as punishment for dealing with Russia.
But get this – just a couple weeks ago, Trump and Modi had a phone call where they talked about pushing forward on trade ties. And right around now, Indian and US officials are back at the negotiating table trying to sort out this long trade mess. India’s even telling refiners to report weekly on how much Russian and US oil they’re buying, probably to show Washington, “Look, we’re cutting back, chill on the tariffs.”
India’s been defending it forever – we need cheap oil for our people, energy security and all that. And yeah, they’ve ramped up buys from the US too lately. But Trump? He’s all about leverage. He thinks the existing tariffs are already making India buy less Russian stuff, and if not, boom – more pain.
It’s this weird mix: Trump calls Modi a “good guy,” they seem to get along personally, but on policy? Total tug-of-war. Geopolitics meets trade war.
Honestly, it’s tense. Indian exporters are hurting from those high duties – jobs on the line in textiles, jewelry, seafood. And with polite conversation ongoing, everyone’s watching if India can use lower Russian imports as a bargaining chip to get relief. Will they together cut a deal soon, or is this gonna drag on? Trump’s style is unpredictable.
