‘Trump-Modi bond is gone now’: Ex-US NSA says Trump’s chaos reversed decades with India
“Trump had a very good relationship personally with Modi. I think that's gone now, and it's a lesson to everybody,” Bolton told British outlet LBC in a recent interview.
- Sep 5, 2025,
- Updated Sep 5, 2025 7:31 AM IST
Former U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton says Donald Trump’s once-warm ties with Prime Minister Narendra Modi have “gone now,” warning that personal rapport with the former president “won’t protect” world leaders from damaging fallout.
In a sharp critique of Trump’s foreign policy legacy, Bolton said the former president’s actions have “set back decades” of U.S.-India relations, reversing years of strategic effort to pivot New Delhi away from Moscow.
“Trump had a very good relationship personally with Modi. I think that's gone now, and it's a lesson to everybody,” Bolton told British outlet LBC in a recent interview. He added that Trump’s erratic approach to diplomacy—relying heavily on personal chemistry—has undermined broader U.S. interests.
The comments come amid deepening trade friction between the two countries. India now faces a 25% U.S. tariff on its goods and an additional 25% duty on Russian oil imports, effectively doubling the burden on Indian exports.
Bolton, who served as Trump’s national security adviser from 2018 to 2019, has frequently criticized the former president. He argued that Trump’s fixation on personal ties—such as with Vladimir Putin—blurs strategic priorities.
Responding to questions about India’s presence alongside China and Russia at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, Bolton said: “About 100 percent of this goes to Donald Trump and the way he’s treated India... That progress has been reversed.”
The remarks underline growing concern in Washington and New Delhi about the long-term damage to bilateral ties, once considered a cornerstone of the U.S. Indo-Pacific strategy.
Former U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton says Donald Trump’s once-warm ties with Prime Minister Narendra Modi have “gone now,” warning that personal rapport with the former president “won’t protect” world leaders from damaging fallout.
In a sharp critique of Trump’s foreign policy legacy, Bolton said the former president’s actions have “set back decades” of U.S.-India relations, reversing years of strategic effort to pivot New Delhi away from Moscow.
“Trump had a very good relationship personally with Modi. I think that's gone now, and it's a lesson to everybody,” Bolton told British outlet LBC in a recent interview. He added that Trump’s erratic approach to diplomacy—relying heavily on personal chemistry—has undermined broader U.S. interests.
The comments come amid deepening trade friction between the two countries. India now faces a 25% U.S. tariff on its goods and an additional 25% duty on Russian oil imports, effectively doubling the burden on Indian exports.
Bolton, who served as Trump’s national security adviser from 2018 to 2019, has frequently criticized the former president. He argued that Trump’s fixation on personal ties—such as with Vladimir Putin—blurs strategic priorities.
Responding to questions about India’s presence alongside China and Russia at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, Bolton said: “About 100 percent of this goes to Donald Trump and the way he’s treated India... That progress has been reversed.”
The remarks underline growing concern in Washington and New Delhi about the long-term damage to bilateral ties, once considered a cornerstone of the U.S. Indo-Pacific strategy.