Peter Navarro cries foul after being fact-checked over India’s Russian oil purchases

WASHINGTON: Peter Navarro, Senior Counsellor for Trade and Manufacturing to US President Donald Trump, had a meltdown after being corrected over spreading misinformation pertaining to India’s purchase of Russian oil on Saturday (US local time).

Calling the community note on X “crap”, Navarro alleged that Elon Musk is allowing “propaganda” and reiterated his accusations of India purchasing Russian oil only to make profits.

“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 jobs,” Navarro wrote on X.

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 Ukranians. Stop taking… https://t.co/Uj1NMUrVOM

— Peter Navarro (@RealPNavarro) September 6, 2025

His response came to an earlier post where he had accused India of profiteering from Russian oil in his latest slew of remarks, alongside alleging that India’s tariffs cost “Americans’ jobs”.

In a post on X on Friday (US local time), Navarro made the remarks in response to an article by the Washington Post, which described the conflicting efforts in Trump’s administration over mending the relationship with India.

The news piece by The Washington Post claimed that the inflammatory language used by Washington towards New Delhi is deepening the crisis in the relationship.

Navarro criticised the report and said, “FACTS: India highest tariffs costs U.S. jobs. 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.”

FACTS: India highest tariffs costs U.S. jobs. 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. QED. https://t.co/9UwdodYBEe

— Peter Navarro (@RealPNavarro) September 5, 2025

Navarro’s recent post on X comes shortly after the Ministry of External Affairs, during its press briefing on Friday, dismissed comments made by him, with the MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal calling them “inaccurate and misleading statements.” Rejecting at a weekly briefing, Jaiswal said, “We have seen the inaccurate and misleading statements made by Navarro, and obviously, we reject them.”

The inflammatory comments by Navarro come despite President Trump expressing optimism towards the India-US ties and appreciating PM Modi while taking questions from the press in the White House. To a query, Trump called the India-US ties a “very special relationship” and affirmed that he and PM Modi would always be friends, asserting that there is “nothing to worry about”.

Soon after, Prime Minister Modi responded warmly to Trump’s affirmation of India-US ties, expressing that he “deeply appreciates and fully reciprocates” the US President’s sentiments and positive assessment of the bilateral relations. Taking to X, PM Modi noted India-US ties as “forward-looking” towards a “Comprehensive and Global Strategic Partnership”.

“Deeply appreciate and fully reciprocate President Trump’s sentiments and positive assessment of our ties. India and the US have a very positive and forward-looking Comprehensive and Global Strategic Partnership”, the Prime Minister stated in his post. (ANI)