Washington, DC: In a scathing criticism of the way the Donald Trump administration treated India, Rahm Emanuel, former US ambassador to Japan, and a potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidate, said that Washington has “literally spit” on New Delhi’s face.
Bringing India closer to the US has been a 30-year project under both Democratic and Republican administrations, Emanuel, who has held various positions under the Barack Obama and Joe Biden administrations, has said.
“America has literally spit in India’s face under the Trump administration. Bringing India closer to the US has been a 30-year project for every US president. I would not do what Trump has done,” he said at an event at the Harvard Kennedy School, as reported by Hindustan Times.
Emanuel (66), a onetime congressman from Illinois was instrumental in helping power the Democrats to overwhelming victories in the 2006 midterms. That is an election year which some in the party are looking to for inspiration as they try to retake control of Congress in the midterms later this year.
He went on to become White House chief of staff to president Barack Obama before being elected to two terms as Chicago mayor. He was the US ambassador to Japan under president Joe Biden.
According to the report, Emanuel is now considering a White House bid of his own in 2028. In the early stages of that contest, several Democrat governors, including Gavin Newsom of California and Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, have received the most attention. Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear made an aggressive move of his own last week by travelling to vice president J D Vance’s home county in Ohio to deliver a searing critique of the man who could become a leading candidate for the next Republican presidential nomination.
India’s relationship with the US has not been at its best since Trump returned to the White House in January last year. To start with, Washington imposed 25% tariffs on Indian imports to the US.
Trump then went on to impose further 25% punitive tariffs on Indian goods due to New Delhi buying Russian oil. He has, however, been okay with that ever since his war with Iran sent crude prices around the world soaring.
The trade deal between India and the US is still far from being finalised and Trump has cracked down on H-1B visas, used by skilled workers from India to enter and work in the US.
Under Trump, the US has got closer to Pakistan. The US president sought credit for ending India’s conflict with Pakistan after last year’s Operation Sindoor, a claim that New Delhi has repeatedly denied.
More recently, Trump praised Pakistan’s Army chief Asim Munir and prime minister Shehbaz Sharif for meditating between the US and Iran, though nothing came of it.
