'Navarro once tried to start a fight between Donald Trump, PM Modi': Ex-US NSA makes big claim
Bolton added that while trade between the US and India is undeniably important, there are "very, very important existenial questions" between the India and the US for the rest of the century.
- Sep 12, 2025,
- Updated Sep 12, 2025 12:03 PM IST
John Bolton, former National Security Advisor of the US, claimed in a recent interview that White House trade advisor Peter Navarro once tried to start a fight between US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Bolton said Navarro allegedly tried to start a tiff between PM Modi and Trump during one of their meetings when he hoped that the two leaders would talk about dealing with strategic issues, such as dealing with China.
During the interview, the former US NSA said that Navarro wanted to talk about "unfair" Indian trade practices. He added that there were always grievances on trade issues.
"And he just, Peter, just wanted to talk about what he felt were unfair Indian trade practices. Look, I have watched trade people do this. There are always grievances in trade issues. It is in the nature of the subject matter," he said in an interview with NDTV.
Calling it a sideshow, Bolton said that it can be ignored while the "real negotiators dealing with the trade talks between the two countries sit down".
He added that India can steer clear of the social media noise and "just do the hard work and see if we can't reach an accommodation here."
"I'm not saying these issues are going to be easy or quickly resolved, but I think there will be good faith on both sides, and that's the way to try and work through it," Bolton mentioned.
Speaking on Navarro, Bolton said: "If you left Peter alone in a room and came back an hour later, he would be in an argument with himself".
President Trump’s trade advisor slammed India’s purchase of Russian oil as "blood money" and called the country "Tariff Maharaja," warning that trade talks "won’t end well" if India doesn’t "come around." He also accused India’s online supporters of using "Community Notes" on X to "bury the facts."
Bolton added that while trade between the US and India is undeniably important, there are "very, very important existential questions" between India and the US for the rest of the century.
"I'm not diminishing the importance of trade. It makes a huge difference in both economies. But let's keep it in perspective," he added.
Two decades of carefully built India-US ties unravelled when President Trump imposed a 25% tariff, later doubling it over India's Russian oil imports. Recently, relations showed a slight improvement as Trump and PM Modi exchanged messages on social media.
Commenting on the India-US ties, John Bolton said that Trump tends to see international relations through the lens of his personal relationship with foreign leaders.
"So from Trump's perspective, if he and Prime Minister Modi have a good personal relationship, everything is fine between India and the United States. Obviously it is much more complicated than that. But at least from the Trump perspective, it's better than tweets and statements that are negative about Prime Minister Modi," Mr Bolton added.
John Bolton, former National Security Advisor of the US, claimed in a recent interview that White House trade advisor Peter Navarro once tried to start a fight between US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Bolton said Navarro allegedly tried to start a tiff between PM Modi and Trump during one of their meetings when he hoped that the two leaders would talk about dealing with strategic issues, such as dealing with China.
During the interview, the former US NSA said that Navarro wanted to talk about "unfair" Indian trade practices. He added that there were always grievances on trade issues.
"And he just, Peter, just wanted to talk about what he felt were unfair Indian trade practices. Look, I have watched trade people do this. There are always grievances in trade issues. It is in the nature of the subject matter," he said in an interview with NDTV.
Calling it a sideshow, Bolton said that it can be ignored while the "real negotiators dealing with the trade talks between the two countries sit down".
He added that India can steer clear of the social media noise and "just do the hard work and see if we can't reach an accommodation here."
"I'm not saying these issues are going to be easy or quickly resolved, but I think there will be good faith on both sides, and that's the way to try and work through it," Bolton mentioned.
Speaking on Navarro, Bolton said: "If you left Peter alone in a room and came back an hour later, he would be in an argument with himself".
President Trump’s trade advisor slammed India’s purchase of Russian oil as "blood money" and called the country "Tariff Maharaja," warning that trade talks "won’t end well" if India doesn’t "come around." He also accused India’s online supporters of using "Community Notes" on X to "bury the facts."
Bolton added that while trade between the US and India is undeniably important, there are "very, very important existential questions" between India and the US for the rest of the century.
"I'm not diminishing the importance of trade. It makes a huge difference in both economies. But let's keep it in perspective," he added.
Two decades of carefully built India-US ties unravelled when President Trump imposed a 25% tariff, later doubling it over India's Russian oil imports. Recently, relations showed a slight improvement as Trump and PM Modi exchanged messages on social media.
Commenting on the India-US ties, John Bolton said that Trump tends to see international relations through the lens of his personal relationship with foreign leaders.
"So from Trump's perspective, if he and Prime Minister Modi have a good personal relationship, everything is fine between India and the United States. Obviously it is much more complicated than that. But at least from the Trump perspective, it's better than tweets and statements that are negative about Prime Minister Modi," Mr Bolton added.