White House trade adviser Peter Navarro, who has repeatedly criticised India's trade policies, particularly its purchase of Russian oil, said on Tuesday that he got “firebombed” by New Delhi through “nasty little attacks” online following his remarks against the nation.
“I actually got firebombed by the Indian continent on the internet with all sorts of nasty little attacks. And all I would say is, don't do that. That's not how we resolve problems here in America,” he told reporters at the White House.
ALSO READ | Trump aide says he got ‘firebombed’ by India over remarks against its Russian oil purchases: ‘Don't do that’
{{/usCountry}}ALSO READ | Trump aide says he got ‘firebombed’ by India over remarks against its Russian oil purchases: ‘Don't do that’
{{/usCountry}}Notably, Navarro has repeatedly criticised India's trade relationship with Russia and has previously accused New Delhi of helping fund Moscow’s "war machine" in Ukraine.
In September last year, India rejected Navarro's remarks on its purchases of Russian oil, calling them “inaccurate and misleading”.
Who is Peter Navarro?
A Harvard University graduate with a PhD in economics, Navarro currently serves as an adviser to US President Donald Trump on trade and manufacturing matters.
A Trump loyalist since his first presidential campaign in 2016, he has long supported tariffs as a tool of economic policy.
He is believed to have had a major influence on Trump's views on tariffs, including his decision to impose duties on Chinese imports during his first term.
He was among those who pushed for higher duties on Chinese goods during Trump's first term and backed a 45 per cent tariff on imports from China. He argued that the move was needed to address what he described as Beijing's use of illegal export subsidies, manipulation of its currency, intellectual property theft and poor worker safety and environmental standards.
Notably, Navarro had also tried to enter politics but failed, including during a stint as a Democratic Party candidate. He first crossed paths with Trump while he was campaigning nearly a decade ago and later became part of the first Trump administration.
He spent four months in prison after being found guilty of refusing to comply with a congressional subpoena from a committee probing the January 2021 US Capitol riots. He was released in 2024.
When Trump announced his appointment in 2025, he defended Navarro, saying he was “treated horribly by the Deep State, or whatever else.”
Apart from his work in government and politics, Navarro has authored several books, including Death by China, Seeds of Destruction, Always a Winner, The Coming China Wars, If It’s Raining in Brazil, Buy Starbucks, and The Well-Timed Strategy.
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Navarro’s tirade against India
The White House official has repeatedly attacked India's trade policies involving Russia and has accused the country of helping fund Russia's "war machine" in Ukraine.
‘India’s oil laundering’
In an opinion piece for the Financial Times, he described India's oil trade with Russia as “opportunistic” and “corrosive” to international efforts aimed at isolating the Russian economy.
“As Russia continues to hammer Ukraine, helped by India’s financial support, American (and European) taxpayers are then forced to spend tens of billions more to help Ukraine’s defence. Meanwhile, India keeps slamming the door on American exports through high tariffs and trade barriers. More than 300,000 soldiers and civilians have been killed, while Nato’s eastern flank grows more exposed and the west foots the bill for India’s oil laundering,” wrote Navarro.
'Maharaja of tariffs'
Navarro has repeatedly used this term for India, first making the remark just days after Trump's tariff announcement. He had defended the US decision not to impose similar penalties on China, Russia's biggest oil buyer.
"It's important to understand that the rationale for the Indian tariffs are very different from the reciprocal tariffs. This was a pure national security issue associated with India's abject refusal to stop buying Russian oil," Navarro said as he called India the 'Maharaja of tariffs'.
'Laundromat for Kremlin'
Last year, Navarro stepped up his attacks on India and called New Delhi a "laundromat for the Kremlin".
While he described Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a "great leader" and said he had "love" for India, he also asked the country to reconsider its role in the global economy. "What you're doing right now is not creating peace. It's perpetuating the war," he had said.
He had also alleged that India's trade with Russia was "a refining profiteering scheme".
'Modi's war in Ukraine'
He referred to the Russia-Ukraine conflict as "Modi's war", claiming that the money Moscow earns through oil sales is used to fund "its war machine" in Ukraine.
“Everybody in America loses because of what India is doing. The consumers and businesses and everything lose, and workers lose because India’s high tariffs cost us jobs, and factories, and income and higher wages. And then the taxpayers lose because we got to fund Modi’s war,” he said during an interview on Bloomberg TV's Balance of Power.