Former US NSA John Bolton has said the Donald Trump administration has set ties with India back by decades, pushing PM Narendra Modi closer to China and Russia.
Trump-Modi friendship is gone, says ex-NSA John Bolton
Former US NSA says that close ties with the US president would not protect leaders from Trump's 'worst,' citing current strained relations due to tariffs
Former US national security advisor (NSA) John Bolton has said that the excellent rapport that US President Donald Trump once shared with Prime Minister Narendra Modi is “gone now”. The veteran diplomat, who served in the first Trump administration from 2018 to 2019, also warned that close ties with the American leader “won’t protect” global leaders from the “worst.”
Bolton, known for his hawkish style, made the remarks at a time when ties between India and the US have soured in recent months, largely due to Trump’s aggressive tariff policy and the constant criticism of New Delhi by his administration. His repeated claims of bringing a ceasefire after India and Pakistan had a brief air skirmish in May have also been an irritant for the Indian side.
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This is the worst phase in the two democracies’ bilateral relations after they witnessed remarkable improvements in the past two decades.
Former US national security advisor John Bolton.
“I think Trump sees international relations through the prism of his personal relations with leaders. So if he has a good relationship with Vladimir Putin, the US has a good relationship with Russia. That’s obviously not the case,” the 76-year-old said in a recent interview with British media portal LBC.
'Trump-Modi relation a lesson'
Bolton, who has been very critical of his former boss, said, “Trump had a very good relationship personally with Modi. I think that's gone now, and it's a lesson to everybody, for example, (UK Prime Minister) Keir Starmer, that a good personal relationship may help at times, but it won't protect you from the worst,” he said in a post.
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Trump is scheduled to visit the UK from September 17 to 19.
In a post on social media accompanying his interview with LBC, Bolton said the White House has "set US-India relations back decades, pushing Modi closer to Russia and China. Beijing has cast itself as an alternative to the US and Donald Trump”.
The White House has set U.S.-India relations back decades, pushing Modi closer to Russia and China. Beijing has cast itself as an alternative to the U.S. and Donald Trump.https://t.co/klFKyh1BrK
— John Bolton (@AmbJohnBolton) September 3, 2025
Modi recently shared the stage with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the 25th summit of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in Tianjin, China.
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The former NSA said Trump’s treatment of India over the past several months has undermined years of bipartisan US efforts to wean New Delhi away from its Cold War alignment with Russia and to ensure Indian policymakers across the spectrum recognise China as their principal security challenge.
According to Bolton, while the reversed situation can be reversed again, he conceded that it was a “very bad moment”.
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Bolton has said in the past that the tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on India for buying Russian oil may have pushed New Delhi closer to the Beijing-Moscow axis, describing it as an “unforced error”.
The Republican’s Maryland home and Washington office were recently searched by the Federal Bureau of Investigation as part of a criminal investigation into the alleged mishandling of classified material.
(With inputs from agencies)