US President Donald Trump’s top aide Sergio Gor was official sworn in as the US Ambassador to India during a special ceremony at the Oval Office on Monday (US time). With the 79-year-old commander-in-chief presiding over the event, some big statements about the highly anticipated India-US trade deal were inevitable.
High US tariffs on India to be cut soon?
Perhaps, one of the most significant takeaways from the event was how the US leader outrightly announced that the “very high” tariffs on India would be reduced “at some point” going forward.
“Well, right now the tariffs are very high on India because of the Russian oil,” Trump told reporters at the Oval Office. “And they’ve stopped doing the Russian oil. It’s been reduced very substantially. Yeah, we’re going to be bringing the tariffs down.”
The Donald Trump government had placed significantly high tariffs (50%)–the highest to have hit any country–on India over its excessive purchases of Russian oil against the backdrop of the Ukraine crisis.
Top officials from his administration have long called out the South Asian nation for fuelling the “Russian war machine.” Moreover, they’ve even continued to deal out renewed threats that sought to drive India against its heavy reliance on Russian trade.
Tariffs on India to be brought down, says Trump. “They are high right now because of the Russian oil. They have stopped doing the Russian oil. It’s been reduced very substantially. We are going to be bringing the tariffs down… at some point…” pic.twitter.com/ekeOCIe3CC
— Dinakar Peri (@dperi84) November 11, 2025
As for where the much-awaited trade deal between India and the US stands, Trump said, “We’re making a deal… a much different deal than we had in the past.” The American president even acknowledged how the much-stretched-out negotiations and sanctions over Russian oil had resulted in Indians growing apprehensive of him.
He added, “So right now they don’t love me, but they’ll love us again. We’re getting a fair deal, just a fair trade deal. We had pretty unfair trade deals.” Trump even went on to praise the Indian side as “very good negotiators,” while reiterating they were “getting close to doing a deal that’s good for everybody.”
Sergio Gor’s swearing-in ceremony: Trump on India
The POTUS declared Gor’s new official post a “big deal,” foregrounding that the Ambassador to India was being trusted with one of the country’s “most important international relationships.”
While congratulating his new envoy, Trump made it a point to praise India as “one of the world’s oldest civilisations” and “the largest country in the world.” In the same breath, he name-dropped Narendra Modi, describing the US dynamic with the Indian prime minister as a “fantastic relationship.” As a result, the American leader affirmed that the freshly sworn-in ambassador’s role would be focussed on strengthening the same link on the strategic, economic and security parameters.
Suggesting that Sergio had already become “friendly” with the Indian PM, the MAGA leader continued speaking highly of the US-India connection. “I know you’re gonna have a great success over there. It’s a very important relationship,” he told Gor. “It’s also the fastest-growing middle class and it’s any important economic and strategic security partner in the Indo-Pacific region. It’s an amazing country.”
Further outlining his role, Trump added, “As the Ambassador, Sergio will work to fortify our country’s bond, promote investments in key US industries and technologies, increase American energy exports, and expand out security cooperation.”
During the Monday swearing-in ceremony, the US president also noted that while most people love his former personnel chief, not everyone was fond of him. “Some people don’t like him so much — I’ll be honest with you, Sergio,” he told Gor. “Some people, when they don’t like Sergio, they don’t like him. But when they like him, they like him more than anybody.”
Several officials and lawmakers were in attendance for the auspicious day highlighting the relationship between the United States and India. Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, US Attorney General Pam Bondi, US Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro, Senator Lindsey Graham, and even the late far-right political activist Charlie Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, were pictured at the White House on Monday.
