Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna on Monday (local time) hit out at US President Donald Trump over his foreign and trade policies, claiming that the India-US relationship has deteriorated to its lowest
point in three decades under his administration.
While speaking at the IX USISPF Leadership Summit 2026 in Washington, the Indian-origin lawmaker said that he would not “mince words” about the current state of bilateral ties, arguing that the Trump administration’s unilateral approach to global affairs had damaged America’s standing with its allies.
He criticised Trump’s policies towards Iran, saying they had driven up fuel prices in India and hurt the country’s economy and damaging US credibility.
“The US-India relationship has been at the lowest point in the last 30 years. Trump’s policies of getting into a war in Iran has been utterly destructive. It has been utterly destructive to the prices in India of gas. Talk to Jaishankar if you don’t believe me. The idea that we engaged in a unilateral war without our allies, without even consulting Europe or Canada or India, and made a mess of the world, has hurt our credibility,” he said as quoted by news agency ANI.
#WATCH | Washington DC, USA: At the IX USISPF Leadership Summit 2026, Congressman Ro Khanna says, "The US-India relationship has been at the lowest point in the last 30 years. Trump's policies of getting into a war in Iran has been utterly destructive. It has been utterly… pic.twitter.com/867p47S08G
— ANI (@ANI) June 30, 2026
The Democratic lawmaker also attacked the administration’s decision to pursue military action without consulting key allies, including India, Europe and Canada, saying it had undermined US credibility globally.
Khanna further criticised the ongoing tariff disputes, describing them as irrational, and claimed that India’s envoy had told him during a meeting in China that “a generation of trust has been lost” because of Trump’s actions.
“And then the irrationality of the tariff war. I was in China and the Indian ambassador said to me, ‘A generation of trust has been lost by this president of yours.’ See, if we don’t speak the truth about the damage that this president has done, not only at home but abroad, then we’re just not living in reality,” he said.
Warning that the next generation would have to rebuild both America and its global partnerships, Khanna contrasted Trump with former President Franklin D Roosevelt, whom he described as a leader who believed in international cooperation and the principle of self-determination.
“The new generation is not only gonna have to rebuild America, we’re gonna have to rebuild our relationships around the world. And I contrast one of the greatest presidents with arguably the worst president in our history: FDR with Donald Trump. And what was the difference? See, FDR actually believed in the self-determination of people. FDR was a supporter of what my grandfather was doing, Amarnath Vidyalankar, working with Lala Lajpat Rai,” he added.
Khanna’s remarks came shortly after USISPF Honorary Senior Advisor Al Mason offered a sharply different assessment at the same summit, saying the India-US relationship had regained “historic momentum” and crediting US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor with helping revive ties between President Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Mason said Gor had helped reconnect the two leaders by conveying that Trump respected India’s rise, admired Modi’s leadership and wanted a stronger India-US partnership.
(With inputs from agencies)
