Not long after Indian-origin US Representative Ro Khanna urged pro-Donald Trump Indian Americans to speak out against the American president for “sabotaging” the US-India partnership, the California politician again took to his social media platform to sound off the alarm against the MAGA leader.
“Trump is destroying 30 years of bipartisan work to build the US-India strategic partnership because Modi refuses to nominate him for a Nobel Peace Prize,” Khanna wrote on X. “He imposed higher tariffs of 50% on India than China.”
The Indian-origin representative also doubled down on urging Indian Americans who voted for Trump to speak out.
Khanna, who also co-authored the Trump-defying discharge petition seeking to force a vote on the release of the Jeffrey Epstein Files, has long continued to slam the US president’s tariffs strategy.
Indian-origin Ro Khanna’s message: ‘Trump destroying India-US partnership’
The co-chair of the US-India Caucus also plugged a video message along with his recent tweet. Again drawing attention to the world’s highest tariff rate taking a toll on India, he said, “It is hurting India’s exports of leather and textiles into the United States. And it’s hurting American manufacturers and our exports into India.” He then went on to attribute India’s newly surprising warm ties with Russia and China to the same reason, holding Trump responsible for pushing the decades-old South Asian nation friend away.
Trump is destroying 30 years of bipartisan work to build the US-India strategic partnership because Modi refuses to nominate him for a Nobel Peace Prize. He imposed higher tariffs of 50% on India than China.
— Ro Khanna (@RoKhanna) September 2, 2025
Which Indian Americans who voted for Trump are speaking out? https://t.co/KdBYIUWDMo pic.twitter.com/GNG8aiNOH5
Moreover, Ro Khanna’s video also put the spotlight back on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s refusal to not only nominate Trump for a Nobel Peace Prize, but also the dismissal of the US president’s repeated attempts to take credit for the ceasefire agreement between India and Pakistan.
“Prime Minister Modi refused to nominate Donald Trump for a Nobel Peace Prize. Well, Pakistan did,” he added. “And India has said that the border dispute with Pakistan is an internal matter, refusing to give Donald Trump credit.”
The American Congressman further asserted the MAGA leader’s ego was fuelled the deterioration of global relations between India and America. “We can’t allow the ego of Donald Trump to destroy a strategi relationship with Indian that is key to ensuring that America leads and not China. To all those Indian-Americans who voted for Donald Trump, I’m asking you, where are you today while he destroys this relationship?” he concluded.
Indian-origin Nikki Haley also emphasised the need for US to retain India friendship
The US-India Caucus co-chair’s remarks echo those of fellow Indian-origin Nikki Haley’s views, as expressed in her August op-ed for Newsweek. The former South Carolina governor, who was born Nimrata Nikki Randhawa, addressed both Trump and Modi in her write-up, urging them to maintain the friendship between two “prized free and democratic” partners. Positioning China as an “adversary,” she called India the “only country that can serve as a counterweight to Chinese dominance in Asia.”
She added, “The administration should focus on mending the rift with India and giving the relationship more high-level attention and resources—approaching what the U.S. devotes to China or Israel.” Her opinion piece even opened with a reminder of how former President Ronald Reagan welcomed then-Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to a state dinner at the White House in July 1982.
Khanna’s new tweet against Trump continued an X quote-conversation with Indian-American businessman and venture capitalist Vinod Khosla. He, in turn, replied to the US Congressman’s previous post, saying that while he did not vote for Trump, it was “only his ego and wanting Modi to nominate him for the Nobel Peace Prize” that drove him sever ties with India.
Meanwhile, White House trade advisor Peter Navarro’s scathing attacks further closed the door on any immediate resolution of the growing rift between India and the US. Just days ago, he shamed PM Modi for “getting in bed as a leader of the biggest democracy in the world with the two biggest authoritarian dictators in the world – Putin and Xi Jinping.”
Contrary to the sharp tone, he claimed to extend his respect to Indians and the country’s leader, adding, “We hope he comes around to seeing that he needs to be with us, Europe and Ukraine, and not Russia.”
PM Modi, on his part, flaunted a display of unity alongside Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping at the SCO summit in Tianjin, China.