It is said that the more you talk, the more you reveal your true self. White House Trade Adviser Peter Navarro has been on interview giving spree to justify US President Donald Trump’s senseless 50 per cent tariff imposition on India. Marking a shift from usual anti-India rants, Peter Navarro, Trump’s attack dog-in-chief has invoked caste and accused the Brahmins of India of “profiteering at the expense of the Indian people.”
Referring to India as “nothing but a laundromat for the Kremlin”, Navarro, during an interview with Fox News on Monday, accused New Delhi of enabling trade imbalances and geopolitical alliances that run counter to US interests.
Just as Trump would call Prime Minister Narendra Modi and India his friends before launching his tirade against New Delhi, Navarro called PM Modi a “great leader” only to criticise his foreign policy approach. Navarro suggested that India’s engagement with Russia and China undermines its status as the world’s largest democracy.
“And on top of that, by the way, 25 per cent or 50 per cent is because India is the Maharaja of tariffs. They have the highest tariffs in the world. They won’t let us sell to them, so who gets hurt, workers in America, taxpayers in America… Ukrainians in cities are getting killed by Russian drones,” the Navarro said.
“So, you know, look, Modi’s a great leader… But I don’t understand why he’s getting into bed with Putin and Xi Jinping…when he’s the leader of the biggest democracy in the world. I would just simply say to the Indian people. Please, understand what’s going on here. You’ve got Brahmins profiteering at the expense of the Indian people. We need that to stop,” he added.
SHOCKER:
Navarro uses caste to divide India. “Brahmins profiteering and Indians suffering…”.
What an illiterate, uncouth ambassador for the Trump “Regime”.
This kind of “orientalism” shames America.
WE EXPECTED A REACTION, NOT THIS UNHINGED RACIST RANT. pic.twitter.com/w4261ZsLG3— Rahul Shivshankar (@RShivshankar) September 1, 2025
Navarro’s latest anti-India rant followed Prime Minister Modi’s bilateral engagement with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday, on the sidelines of the SCO leaders’ summit, during which both leaders welcomed the positive momentum and steady progress in bilateral relations since their last meeting in Kazan on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in October 2024.
Earlier on Friday, Navarro accused India of profiting from Russian oil in scalding remarks. “India’s Big Oil lobby has turned the largest democracy in the world into a massive refining hub and oil money laundromat for the Kremlin. Indian refiners buy cheap Russian oil, process it, and export fuels to Europe, Africa, and Asia – shielded from sanctions under the pretence of neutrality,” he said in a series of posts on X.
In an interview with Bloomberg, White House Trade Adviser Peter Navarro blamed India for being the reason behind the US and Europe funding Ukraine against Russia’s aggression. He went on to call the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war as “Modi’s war”.
“Ukraine comes to us and Europe and says give us more money (for its war). Everybody in America loses because of what India is doing. Consumers and businesses lose; workers lose because India’s high tariffs cause jobs, income and higher wages. The taxpayer loses because we got to fund Modi’s war,” Navarro harangued and called Indians “arrogant”.
Before this, Navarro wrote an opinion piece titled: “India’s oil lobby is funding Putin’s war machine — that has to stop”, in the Financial Times, and alleged that India’s purchases of Russian crude oil were funding Moscow’s war against Russia and that New Delhi needs to stop this. He asserted that India needs to stop cosying up to Russia and China if it wants to be treated as the US’s strategic partner. Navarro, however, did not advise Trump against mollycoddling Islamic terror sponsor Pakistan and its Madrassa-bred de facto ruler Asim Munir.
Navarro sermonised India on how it should act to be treated as the US’s strategic partner; however, the White House advisor did not give any advice to Washington on what it should do to make India feel equal in this partnership.
Navarro blamed India’s ‘greed’ for deaths in Ukraine while US has been profiteering from Russia-Ukraine war
Interestingly, while Navarro suggests that Ukrainians are dying because India is buying Russian oil for its own profits, however, OpIndia has reported earlier, the US has been the biggest profiteer of the Russia-Ukraine war. During his meeting with the US President in Alaska on 16th August, Russian President Vladimir Putin revealed that US-Russia bilateral trade had expanded by over 20 per cent in the past few months, exposing Trump’s persistent claims that the US has been pressuring Moscow to end its war in Ukraine.
American oil companies have made record profits since the Russia-Ukraine war broke out in 2022. From liquified natural gas (LNG) exports, arms sales, and several other war-driven opportunities, the US is apparently the biggest profiteer of Russia-Ukraine war.
The US sold its cheap LNG to Europe at monumentally higher prices, often four times the US domestic rate citing ‘war-induced disruptions, benefiting from Europe’s urgent need for alternatives. In 2022, US oil and gas companies like Chevron and ExxonMobil registered record profits with a massive 125% jump from pre-war 2021.
Beyond energy, the US also benefitted from Russia-Ukraine war through its defence exports. Donald Trump is selling its weapons to Ukraine through European nations at a 10% premium, essentially to fill America’s coffers while people from both Russia and Ukraine continue to lose life. Trump has even put a cost to US involvement in providing security guarantees to Ukraine.
The US profiteered from Russia-Ukraine war and now even in peace talks, Trump is pursuing profits but Navarro wants the world to believe that India fuelled Russia’s ‘war machine’.
Brahmins profiteering: Is Peter Navarro trying to stir caste unrest in India?
Peter Navarro singled out Brahmins as the elite class, to suggest that Brahmins are benefitting from Russian oil deals. In reality, however, Brahmins do not dominate India’s oil industry. Brahmins are also not dominant in political leadership. Be it business tycoons Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani to Prime Minister Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, none of them are Brahmins.
On the face of it, one would think that Peter Navarro is ignorant about India’s socio-economic landscape and thinks that all affluent businessmen and industrialists, are ‘upper caste’ Brahmins. Even Donald Trump has many a times said that India and Pakistan have been at war for ‘hundreds of years’, being completely ignorant of the fact that hundred years back, Pakistan did not even exist.
However, a deliberate attempt at fomenting caste unrest in India cannot be ruled out, considering the renewed focus of opposition parties on caste politics. Hating on Brahmins earns quick fame in India’s left liberal and anti-Hindu circles.
Navarro’s anti-Brahmin tirade perfectly dovetails with Opposition’s attempts to fuel caste divisions in India
Navarro’s anti-Brahmin remarks align with the opposition’s narrative that somehow the so-called upper caste rich people have taken control over India’s resources while the ‘lower castes’ are deprived of their rights. Not to forget, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s ‘caste X-ray’ and ‘Jitni aabadi utna haq’ rhetoric. The Congress leader promised to not only get caste census done but also carry out caste-based wealth redistribution. The DMK’s anti-Brahmin politics has become so entrenched in Tamil Nadu politics that it no longer sparks massive outrage. Several anti-BJP parties have been advocating increasing reservations for the SC, ST and OBCs. Apparently, Navarro has noticed that anti-Brahmin rhetoric sells in India and also can be weaponised against the Modi government.
Navarro’s anti-Brahmin remark seeped in orientalism is not that surprising since even in the United States, caste propaganda has been ongoing for the last few years. In 2023, the California State Senate in the US passed legislation (SB-403) that banned caste-based discrimination in the State. OpIndia reported earlier how anti-Brahmin NGOs like Equality Lab have been pushing caste propaganda in the US.
From Brandeis University in Massachusetts adding caste to its non-discrimination policy in December 2019, the CISCO caste discrimination case, Harvard University, Colby College, Brown University, and California State University adding caste to its non-discrimination policy, the dismissal of CISCO case, Seattle council passing a bill to add caste to protected category, California Senate approving the outrageous SB403 bill to events and seminars vilifying Brahmins and pushing caste discrimination narrative, America is witnessing a significant rise in anti-Hindu, particularly, anti-Brahmin propaganda by anti-Hindu forces, all in the name of social justice and struggle for ‘equality’.
It was reported last year how DEI programs have been normalising hatred against Brahmins in the US. In their attempts to foment same hate Nazis had for Jews, several DEI programs were creating prejudices against Hindus, particularly the so-called “upper-caste” Hindus like Brahmins, who are already at the receiving end of hate campaigns of the anti-Hindu elements.
It seems that even Trump administration’s officials have taken note of the anti-Brahmin rhetoric in India unleashed by Congress and other anti-BJP parties and realised that this narrative can be used to get things done and pressure the Modi government into acting as per US’s whims.
Given the desperate attempts by the opposition at re-mainstreaming caste politics, Navarro’s remarks against Brahmins come across as an attempt to exploit caste divisions. Perhaps, Navarro is trying to push a false and sinister narrative that Brahmin dominance is fuelling Russia-Ukraine war and that the Modi government is favouring Brahmins elites. It seems that after amplifying Donald Trump’s ‘dead economy’ jibe, Rahul Gandhi has found another point to agree on with Trump administration. It won’t be surprising if the opposition parties amplify and try to capitalise on Navarro’s remarks.
From ‘Indian refiners profiteering from Russia-Ukraine war’, ‘Indians are arrogant’, ‘Modi’s war’, to ‘Brahmins profiteering’, Navarro’s verbal attacks on India have levelled up. Intensifying efforts to destroy India-US relations, it seems that Trump administration officials are moving from usual vilification of India to influencing socio-political narratives in India.
Indian Opposition’s anti-Brahmin bent: Rationalisation of Navarro’s hate reflects Opposition’s deep-seated hatred for Brahmins
As if to prove the United States hawks weren’t acting on their own volition and taking cues from their counterparts in India, the Congress ecosystem quickly swung into action, promptly contextualizing and defending Navarro’s abject attempt to fuel caste divisions in India. Several senior Congress leaders came to the fore to rationalize Navarro’s contentious remarks.
Congress leader Karti Chidambaram defended Navarro’s attack on India claiming, “Boston Brahmins” is a term used to describe the elite of the society in common parlance.
A similar shoddy attempt to rationalize Navarro’s attack was also attempted by TMC Rajya Sabha MP Sagarika Ghose.
Other members of the Congress ecosystem have also been working overtime to contexualise Navarro’s rant against Brahmins.
What is more revealing than Navarro’s rant is the manner in which sections of India’s Opposition ecosystem rushed to contextualise and rationalise it. Congress functionaries, senior leaders, and even TMC Rajya Sabha members treated his comments as if they were a legitimate critique instead of a brazenly racist and casteist slur directed at a section of Indians. That they do not mind Brahmins being demonised by a foreign official merely because Prime Minister Modi refused to sign a lopsided trade deal with Washington, one that would have dealt a body blow to India’s farming community, exposes their priorities. Political one-upmanship against Modi takes precedence over standing up for Indians when insulted abroad.
Even more telling was the attempt to “intellectualise” Navarro’s remarks by invoking parallels with the so-called “Boston Brahmins.” By rationalising his comments through this lens, Opposition leaders betrayed how little they care when Brahmins are vilified. In fact, it points to a deeper, entrenched hostility within their own political culture. For if a foreigner had made such vile and sweeping remarks about any other community in India, the very same leaders would have rushed to issue unqualified condemnations, projecting themselves as defenders of that community’s honour. Their studied silence, and in some cases, active validation, when it comes to Brahmins reflects a hypocrisy that cannot be missed: selective outrage rooted not in principles, but in political hatred.