US Rep warns Trump might become 'the president who lost India' as Washington-New Delhi ties remain in peril over trade, immigration

United States Representative Sydney Kamlager-Dove on Thursday warned that President Donald Trump could go down in history as “the president who lost India,” citing escalating disputes over tariffs, soaring visa fees and what she described as politically driven grievances that have chipped away at bilateral trust.

"Unless he changes course, Trump will be the American president who lost India, or more accurately, who chased India away while revitalising the Russian empire, while breaking up the transatlantic alliance, and menacing Latin America. That is not a legacy any president should be excited about having," she said.

"When the history books are written about where Trump's antagonism towards India began, they will point to something that has nothing to do with our long-term strategic interests: his personal obsession with a Nobel Peace Prize," Kamlager-Dove added.


Speaking at an intervention during a congressional hearing on the US-India Strategic Partnership, Kamlager-Dove cautioned that relations between Washington and New Delhi are veering into dangerous territory.




Her remarks signalled a growing sense of alarm on Capitol Hill over the second Trump administration’s handling of one of America’s most consequential foreign relationships.

"Beyond tariffs, Trump has also attacked the people-to-people ties between the US and India. The $100,000 fee on H-1B visas, 70% of which are held by Indians, is a rebuke of the incredible contributions Indians have made to science, technology, medicine, and the arts in the United States," the US lawmaker also noted.

Kamlager-Dove stressed that India now anchors sectors central to US strategic competitiveness that include defence innovation, clean energy, artificial intelligence, space cooperation and advanced technologies.

The trajectory of the partnership, she said, will shape how both nations position themselves in the emerging global order, particularly through the Quad, which remains vital to maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific.

Also read: "Damaging India, Hurting America": US Representative sounds alarm on Trump's tariff, immigration policy

The Modi–Putin selfie

To illustrate the consequences, Kamlager-Dove displayed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s widely circulated car selfie with Russian President Vladimir Putin, taken during Putin’s recent visit to India.

The photograph, she said, “speaks a thousand words” about how US policy is reshaping India’s strategic considerations. Trump’s pressure tactics, combined with his overtures to Moscow, risk pushing India toward alternative alignments, she warned.

Kamlager-Dove criticised steep tariffs—including a 50% duty on Indian goods and an additional 25 per cent levy tied to Russian oil imports—which have slowed high-level engagement and contributed to the postponement of the Quad Leaders Summit.

The administration’s new $100,000 H-1B visa fee, disproportionately affecting Indian professionals, further erodes a longstanding pillar of the relationship.

Kamlager-Dove argued that these moves send destabilising signals across Asia at a moment of intense geopolitical scrutiny from Beijing. The result, she said, is “real and lasting damage” to trust between the two democracies.

Also read: Offers from India best-ever: USTR on proposed bilateral trade agreement



Adding fuel to the fire

Tensions deepened further after Trump threatened fresh tariffs on Indian rice imports following complaints from American farmers who said cheaper shipments from India, Vietnam and Thailand were depressing US prices.

At a White House meeting earlier, the president questioned why additional duties had not already been imposed and vowed to address what he termed “rice dumping.”

His remarks cast a shadow over bilateral trade talks held in India on December 10–11—discussions already bogged down by disputes over tariffs and market access.

With earlier tariff hikes still in effect and new measures looming, prospects for stabilising the economic relationship remain uncertain.