Washington DC [US] – White House trade adviser Peter Navarro, Senior Counsellor for Trade and Manufacturing to US President Donald Trump, has escalated his attacks against India, BRICS nations, and social media platform X after being fact-checked over his remarks on India’s oil purchases from Russia.
On Sunday (local time), Navarro dismissed X’s community notes that corrected his claims accusing India of profiteering from Russian oil and harming American jobs through tariffs. He branded the notes “crap” and accused the platform of serving “foreign interests” meddling in US economics and politics. In a series of posts, Navarro challenged X’s moderation policies, launched a poll to gauge user opinion, and renewed his charges against India.
“Should X put up posts like one below where foreign interests masquerade as objective observers and interfere with domestic U.S. economics and politics? Take poll on next post,” Navarro wrote. He alleged that “Indian special interests” were using propaganda to distort the debate.
At the time of writing, his poll showed 60.3% of respondents voting “Yes,” 19.3% “No,” and 20.3% “Hell no. It’s obscene.” The results placed him further on the defensive. Earlier, he lashed out at Elon Musk for “letting propaganda into people’s posts,” reiterating that “India buys Russian oil solely to profiteer” and alleging that revenues were feeding Russia’s war machine.
Navarro’s criticism also extended to a Washington Post report that highlighted tensions within Trump’s administration over ties with New Delhi. He accused the paper of “Leftist American fake news” and insisted, “India’s highest tariffs cost U.S. jobs. India buys Russian oil purely to profit. Revenues feed Russia war machine. Ukrainians/Russians die. U.S. taxpayers shell out more.”
A day later, Navarro broadened his attack, targeting the BRICS alliance during an interview with Real America’s Voice, which he shared on his X account. He called the bloc’s member countries “vampires” draining American wealth with unfair trade practices.
“None of these countries can survive if they don’t sell to the United States,” Navarro said. “Their exports are like vampires sucking our blood dry. I don’t see how the BRICS stays together since historically they all hate each other and kill each other.”
He cited tensions within the grouping, noting China’s disputes with Russia over Vladivostok and Siberia, India’s decades-long border clashes with China, and Brazil’s economic struggles under President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. “Good luck with that, Putin. Modi, see how you kind of worked that out,” he remarked sarcastically.
His comments came after the BRICS virtual summit hosted under Brazil’s chairmanship. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar represented India, stressing that BRICS should work to stabilize the global economy, support the Global South, and reform multilateralism. President Lula said the bloc reaffirmed its commitment to peace, multilateral reform, and a more “just, balanced, and inclusive international order.”
The BRICS grouping, expanded to eleven members including Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, UAE, Ethiopia, Indonesia, and Iran, describes itself as a coordination forum for the Global South on economic and political issues.
498 words, 3 minutes read time.
About The Author
