Another day, another attack on India by White House trade advisor Peter Navarro, this time with a reference to "vampires". After days of lashing out at India's oil trade with Russia, Navarro has now targeted the countries in the BRICS bloc, that India is also a part of.
In a TV interaction, Peter Navarro doubted if the alliance between bloc of countries would stay for long, asserting that none of them "would survive without selling to the United States".
"...when they sell to the US their exports they are like vampires sucking our blood dry with their unfair trade practices," Navarro said, further alleging that all countries part of the BRICS union historically "hate each other and kill each other".
Earlier during the same remarks, Peter Navarro also slammed the ties between India and China, claiming the two countries have been “at war for decades”.
{{/usCountry}}Earlier during the same remarks, Peter Navarro also slammed the ties between India and China, claiming the two countries have been “at war for decades”.
{{/usCountry}}The BRICS bloc started out with Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. In 2024, the bloc expanded and was joined by Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, and the latest member Indonesia in 2025.
Peter Navarro's “vampire” dig at BRICS countries comes months after he made similar remarks against China in context of the United Kingdom.
"If the Chinese vampire can't suck the American blood, it is going to suck the UK blood and the EU blood," Navarro was quoted as saying by the Telegraph back in May.
Navarro had warned the UK to not become a “dumping ground” for Chinese goods, and not be "an all too complaint servant of the Chinese Communist Party".
His remarks had come when the tariff row between the US and China was raging, with Trump's announcement of a 245 per cent tariff on Chinese goods, and Beijing hitting back with 125 per cent duties. Both countries had later reached an agreement to temporarily lower the levies.
Navarro's post on India gets fact checked on X
As Peter Navarro continues his tirade against India, one of the posts made by the White House advisor's targeting India's oil trade with Russia was debunked on X.
In the post, he alleged that India was engaged in the deals to make a “profit” and “feed the Russia war machine”.
However, this community check resulted in a row between him and Elon Mus, who defended the platform and the fact-checking system saying, “People decide the narrative on this platform”.
"On this platform, the people decide the narrative. You hear all sides of an argument. Community Notes corrects everyone, no exceptions. Notes, data, and code is public source. Grok provides further fact-checking," Musk wrote in a post on X.
Navarro has been targeting India ever since US President Donald Trump's announcement of additional 25% tariffs on Indian imports, that took effect on August 27, taking the total duties to 50%.
The additional tariffs were announced as a penalty for India's oil trade with Russia.