'Propaganda': Peter Navarro slams Elon Musk after his X post on India’s Russian oil purchases gets fact-checked

Peter Navarro, Senior Counsellor for Trade and Manufacturing for US President Donald Trump, launched an attack on Elon Musk after his post on India buying Russian oil was fact checked by the billionaire's social media platform X.Calling the community note on X "crap", Navarro alleged that Elon Musk is allowing "propaganda" and reiterated his accusations of India purchasing Russian oil only to make profits."Wow. @elonmusk is letting propaganda into people's posts. That crap note below is just that. Crap. India buys Russia oil solely to profiteer. It didn't buy any before Russia invaded Ukraine. Indian govt spin machine moving high tilt. Stop killing Ukrainians. Stop taking American job", Navarro wrote on X.His response came to an earlier post where he had accused India of profiteering from Russian oil in his latest slew of remarks, alongside alleging that India's tariffs cost "Americans' jobs". Navarro made the remarks in response to an article by the Washington Post, which described the conflicting efforts in Trump's administration over mending the relationship with India.In response to the post, a community note by X was added, which said, "India's Russian oil purchases are for energy security, not just profit, & don't violate sanctions. While India has some tariffs, the U.S. has a trade surplus with it in services. U.S. also continues to import certain commodities from Russia which is hypocritical."In the last few days, several Trump administration officials including White House trade advisor Peter Navarro have used offensive language to target India.India's big oil lobby has turned the largest democracy in the world into a "massive refining hub and oil money laundromat for the Kremlin", Navarro said last week.India on Friday rejected Navarro's remarks describing them as "inaccurate and misleading".Over the last few weeks, India-US ties witnessed severe strain after over two-decades of close cooperation.The tension began after the negotiations for a trade deal hit a roadblock as well as Trump's repeated claims that he resolved the military conflict between India and Pakistan in May.India has been maintaining that the conflict ended following direct talks between the two sides.Over the last few months, India and the US held several rounds of negotiations for a bilateral trade deal but it could not be sealed in view of sharp divergences in certain critical areas including agriculture and dairy.The bilateral trade between India and the US was around USD 130 billion last year and there was a projection of upward mobility in the volume.The US has also been targeting India for its energy ties with Russia.Defending its purchase of Russian crude oil, India has been maintaining that its energy procurement is driven by national interest and market dynamics.India turned to purchasing Russian oil sold at a discount after Western countries imposed sanctions on Moscow and shunned its supplies over its invasion of Ukraine in February, 2022.Consequently, from a mere 1.7 per cent share in total oil imports in 2019-20, Russia's share increased to 35.1 per cent in 2024-25, and it is now the biggest oil supplier to India.