Indo-Trumpian Relations: What Went Wrong? A Reconsideration

Trump’s foreign policy, premised on America First and anti-war nationalism, has in practice revealed itself to be something far more destabilising. The US-Israel joint strikes on Iran in February 2026, assassinating Supreme Leader Khamenei, triggered a regional war, blockaded the Strait of Hormuz, and forced India into an uncomfortable tightrope walk between its ties with Israel, its energy dependence on Iran, and its broader multi-alignment strategy.

What this exposed is the structural contradiction at the heart of Trumpism: a foreign policy that campaigns on restraint but is temperamentally drawn to overwhelming force, leaving allies to manage the wreckage. India has navigated Trumpism with reasonable dexterity: elevating ties with Israel, securing a trade deal with the US at 18% tariffs, and simultaneously signing the India-EU trade agreement and hedging through partnerships with France, Japan, and the UAE. 

Yet the pressure is real. Trump’s jealous God-emperor approach to foreign policy, where allies are expected to be subservient, not merely cooperative, sits poorly with India’s ambitions as a leading democratic power with independent relationships across Russia, China, and Europe. 

Three fault lines explain the Indo-American drift: unease within the MAGA base toward Hindu ‘pagan’ identity and culture, crystallised by Vance’s October 2025 remark that he hoped his wife would convert to Christianity; Pakistan’s post- Operation Sindoor strategic kowtowing to Trump, amplified by a Saudi-Emirati rift partly driven by India’s Russian oil arbitrage; and India’s principled refusal to become an American vassal state. 

I must confess an error in my earlier assessment. I had hoped Trump would normalise American power, pursuing its interests without imperial pretension. That was wishful thinking. The disproportionate power gap between the US and the rest of the world makes imperial behaviour structurally inevitable. Trump has not changed this dynamic; he has merely stripped away the diplomatic courtesy that masked it. What was subtle under previous presidents is now trumpeted loudly. The emperor still rules; he has simply stopped pretending otherwise. 

For India, the lesson is sobering. Strategic autonomy will remain increasingly difficult in an era where great powers demand loyalty over balance. Trumpism did not create American imperial instincts; it exposed them without restraint. India must therefore strengthen its economic resilience, diversify partnerships, and prepare for a harsher, openly coercive international order.

“Indo-Trumpian Relations: What Went Wrong? A Reconsideration,” VideshNeeti, 12 May 2026, 3(1): 4.