US President Donald Trump is not the most factually correct leader in the world. In fact, he is often called out for making misleading or incorrect statements during interactions with reporters. In the last few weeks, Trump made many such exaggerated or outright incorrect remarks about India – be it on trade, Kashmir or the military conflict with Pakistan.
In light of his latest announcement to impose a 50 per cent tariff on India, a closer look at his past remarks -- from criticism of India’s high tariffs on US goods to its purchase of Russian oil -- reveals a pattern of misinformed claims.
Here’s a look at some of the claims made by Trump and how they differ from reality:
‘Brokered ceasefire between India and Pakistan’
Trump has, on several occasions, mentioned that the India-Pakistan ceasefire on May 10 was brokered by the United States. However, so far there has been no official evidence produced to support the claim.
“We’ve been very successful in settling wars. You have India, (and) Pakistan… India, by the way, Pakistan would have been a nuclear war within another week the way that was going. That was going very badly, and we did that through trade. I said we’re not going to talk to you about trade unless you get this thing settled, and they did, and they were both great, great leaders, and they were great," he had said.
India, however, has outrightly and firmly denied Trump’s claims, mentioning that the ceasefire was arrived at through a call between the DGMOs of both the nations.
“No world leader had asked India to stop Operation Sindoor," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in Lok Sabha during the monsoon session of Parliament.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar also clarified: “I want to make two things very clear…one, at no stage, in any conversation with the United States, was there any linkage with trade and what was going on. Secondly, there was no talk between the Prime Minister and President Trump from the 22nd of April when President Trump called up to convey his sympathy, and the 17th of June, when he called up the Prime Minister in Canada to explain why he could not meet.”
In fact, Trump claimed he used "trade" to mediate ceasefire between the two countries. A few weeks later, he announced tariffs on India amid disagreements during trade talks. This is proof enough that trade with US had nothing to do with the May 10 ceasefire.
India is 'tariff king'
Trump has termed India as the “tariff king" and an “abuser" of trade duties, suggesting the country unfairly protects its markets through high customs duties.
However, data suggests that India’s simple average tariff, which comprises levies on both agriculture and non-agriculture products, is around 16 per cent. This is in the same league as Bangladesh (14.1 per cent), Turkey (16.2 per cent) and Argentina (13.4 per cent). India’s weighted average tariff, however, is only around 4.6 per cent.
‘India is a dead economy’
Among one of Trump’s recent remarks following the imposition of tariff is that India is a “dead economy”. He has also mentioned that US does very little business with them.
The US, however, remained India’s largest trading partner for the fourth consecutive year in 2024-25 with bilateral trade valued at $131.84 billion. In the last fiscal, India’s exports to the US rose by 11.6 per cent to $86.51 billion as against $77.52 billion in 2023-24.
Under the joint “Mission 500” roadmap, both countries are working towards doubling bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030.
In fact, Trump's own family-controlled business, The Trump Organization, has been seeing India as its largest market outside the US over the past 10 years in terms of real estate projects.
India stopped buying Russian oil
Trump recently claimed, “Well, I understand India no longer is going to be buying oil from Russia. That’s what I heard. I don’t know if that’s right or not, but that’s a good step. We’ll see what happens.”
India, however, denied any such claim and asserted that the imports are based on market factors and done with the overall objective of ensuring the energy security of 1.4 billion people of the country.
‘1,000-year dispute’
Trump also made a bizarre remark about the Kashmir dispute, saying India and Pakistan have been involved in it for “1,000 years”.
“I am very close to India, and I’m very close to Pakistan, and they’ve had that fight for a thousand years in Kashmir. Kashmir has been going on for a thousand years, probably longer than that. That was a bad one (terrorist attack), there have been tensions on that border for 1,000 years. It’s been the same, but I am sure they’ll figure it out one way or the other. I know both leaders," he had said.
The Kashmir issue arose in 1947. Needless to say, neither India nor Pakistan existed in anything like their current form a thousand years ago.
Kashmir mediation
In 2019, President Trump claimed that PM Modi had requested him to mediate the long-standing Kashmir dispute between India and Pakistan.
“I was with PM Modi two weeks ago and we talked about the subject. And he actually said, ‘Would you like to be a mediator, or arbitrator?’ I said ‘Where?’, and he said ‘Kashmir, because this has been going on for many, many years’,” Trump said.
The external affairs ministry denied that PM Modi had requested for Trump to play a role. “No such request has been made by PM Modi to the US President. It has been India’s consistent position that all outstanding issues with Pakistan are discussed only bilaterally.”
India got a ‘sweeter deal’ under Paris agreement
In 2020, Trump said India got a sweeter deal under the Paris Climate Accord, suggesting this was a key reason for the US withdrawal from the pact.
The truth is that India was the first G20 country to achieve the target laid down in the Paris Agreement.
Indians taking American jobs
In 2016, Trump had blamed Indians for snatching jobs meant for Americans. “They are taking our jobs. China is taking our jobs. Japan is taking our jobs. India is taking our jobs. It is not going to happen anymore, folks!" he had said.
Even recently, he criticised tech companies for hiring Indian talent.
The claim, however, is misleading given the fact that investments by Indian companies are also creating jobs in the USA. In December 2024, US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti highlighted India's growing role in the US economy and job creation.
Many Indian companies are investing in the US and adding value. According to a CII study released in April 2023, 163 Indian companies invested over $40 billion in the US and created over 4,25,000 direct jobs.
The US is one of the most favoured destinations of Indian students for higher education. As per the US State Department’s website, Indian students contributed about US$ 7.7 billion annually to the economy in 2019-20.
Indian-origin CEOs and tech entrepreneurs have founded or led some of the most successful American companies, powering growth in critical industries and maintaining US global competitiveness.
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