US President Donald Trump on Thursday described India and Russia as “dead economies”, a day after announcing a 25 percent tariff, along with a penalty, on Indian exports to the United States starting August 1.
“I don’t care what India does with Russia. They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care,” Trump said in a post on TRUTH Social.
His remarks followed criticism of India’s ties with Russia, saying New Delhi has long sourced most of its military and energy needs from Moscow, which he called “not good”.
In response, the Indian government said it was studying the implications of Trump’s announcement and remained committed to securing a fair trade agreement with the United States.
Trump wrote on Thursday, “We have done very little business with India. Their tariffs are too high—among the highest in the world.”
“Likewise, Russia and the US do almost no business together. Let’s keep it that way—and tell Medvedev, the failed former president of Russia, who thinks he’s still president, to watch his words. He’s entering very dangerous territory!” he added.
Earlier, former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev had warned that Trump’s “ultimatum game” could spark a full-scale war involving the United States.
“Each new ultimatum is a threat and a step towards war. Not between Russia and Ukraine, but with (Trump’s) own country,” Medvedev posted on X on Monday.
He also criticised the US-EU trade framework, calling it “anti-Russian” and likening it to an unofficial ban on Russian oil and gas.
Trump, in his Monday remarks, said he was disappointed in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s failure to end the war in Ukraine and was shortening his own peace deadline from 50 days to “10 or 12”.
