'Crap': Navarro Cries Foul After Elon Musk's X Fact-Checks His Post Over India's Russian Oil Purchases

(MENAFN- Live Mint) Peter Navarro, Senior Counsellor for Trade and Manufacturing under U.S. President Donald Trump, lashed out on Saturday (U.S. local time) after being fact-checked for spreading misinformation about India's purchase of Russian oil .

Reacting to a community note added to his post on X, Navarro dismissed the correction as“crap” and accused platform owner Elon Musk of enabling“propaganda.”

Also Read: 'India will be buying Russian oil': Sitharaman hits back hard at 'Kremlin's laundromat' jibe

He doubled down on his claim that India is buying Russian oil solely to profit from the conflict.

"Wow. @elonmusk is letting propaganda into people's posts. That crap note below is just that. Crap. India buys Russia oil solely to profiteer. It didn't buy any before Russia invaded Ukraine. Indian govt spin machine moving high tilt. Stop killing Ukrainians. Stop taking American job", Navarro wrote on X.

His response came to an earlier post where he had accused India of profiteering from Russian oil in his latest slew of remarks, alongside alleging that India's tariffs cost“Americans' jobs” .

In a post on X on Friday (US local time), Navarro made the remarks in response to an article by the Washington Post, which described the conflicting efforts in Trump's administration over mending the relationship with India.

Also Read: Trump Goes On Anti-India Rant As PM Modi Shares Laughs With Putin, Xi Jinping At SCO Summit

The news piece by The Washington Post claimed that the inflammatory language used by Washington towards New Delhi is deepening the crisis in the relationship. Navarro criticised the report and said,“FACTS: India highest tariffs costs U.S. jobs. India buys Russian oil purely to profit/Revenues feed Russia war machine. Ukrainians/Russians die. U.S. taxpayers shell out more. India can't handle truth/spins @washpo Leftist American fake news.”

Navarro's recent post on X comes shortly after the Ministry of External Affairs, during its press briefing on Friday, dismissed comments made by him, with the MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal calling them“inaccurate and misleading statements.”

Also Read: 'Brahmins profiteering': Trump aide Navarro's unusual take on India's Russian oil purchases

In recent months, India and the United States have held multiple rounds of negotiations aimed at finalising a bilateral trade deal. However, the talks have failed to conclude due to sharp differences in key sectors, particularly agriculture and dairy.

Bilateral trade between the two nations stood at approximately USD 130 billion last year, with expectations of continued growth. Despite this positive outlook, certain geopolitical and economic factors have strained ties, including US criticism of India's energy relationship with Russia.

Also Read: Trump and Modi take a step forward balancing tariff row on 'special relation': Will it bear fruit? Explained

Washington has repeatedly raised concerns over India's continued import of Russian crude oil. In response, India has defended its energy purchases, citing national interest and market-driven decisions as the basis for its procurement strategy.

Following the imposition of Western sanctions on Russia after it invaded Ukraine in February 2022, India began buying Russian oil at discounted prices. As a result, Russia's share of India's total oil imports has surged from just 1.7% in 2019–20 to 35.1% in 2024–25, making Moscow New Delhi's largest oil supplier.

(This is a developing story)

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