United States (US) President Donald Trump has imposed an additional 25 percent tariff on India, effectively taking the duty to 50 percent on some exports from the South Asian country.

 

As the world looks on, the American president's apparent annoyance with India has led to disbelief and anger on social media. Many Indian accounts, previously all praise for Trump, have now turned against him, tweeting out their frustration. 

 

Sonam Mahajan, a known pro-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) troll, tweeted out a series of posts on X (previously Twitter) about Trump, saying was “best not to be his friend at all”, and that he did were “flattery-for-obedience deals”.

 

Major (r) Gaurav Arya, another Hindutva mouthpiece, took to his account to say that Trump “doesn't care about people dying in Ukraine”, going on to accuse him of using tariffs to lobby for the weapons and oil lobbies. 

 

Another troll account with a massive following wrote "Its not the oil, its the ego [sic]". 

 

Now it’s clear, it’s not the oil. It’s the ego. Remember the Surrender Modi campaign by the opp. It politicised foreign policy, and made it difficult for the govt to wriggle out of it. Could have been sorted then & there. This scorched earth policy by baba, and a super paranoid…

— Gabbar (@GabbbarSingh) August 7, 2025

 

Comedian Atul Khatri took a swing at Bhakt trolls, envisioning how they would use the tariffs to try and spin a win over Pakistan.

 

Bhakt Logic :

Pakistan 19% Tariff
India 50% Tariff

Yess! We are higher than Pakistan by 31% 💪💪💗

— Atul Khatri (@one_by_two) August 7, 2025

 

Barkha Dutt called Trump “clueless” and wrote that it was hard to remember when relations between the two countries were “so strained”. 

 

Hard to remember a time in our living memory when relations between India and the U.S. were so strained. Today, a clueless American president said he “did not know” when confronted with hard questions from India on why it was ok for his country to do trade with Russia ( 3.5… pic.twitter.com/KEcwuqxnhv

— barkha dutt (@BDUTT) August 6, 2025

 

Media analyst Aditya Raj Kaul wrote that the American president had "exposed his bias with this unjustified action". 

 

India has yet again hit back at Trump. Trump has further exposed his bias with this unjustified action. No such measures taken against European Union. India stands strong against unfair, unjustified and unreasonable actions of United States. pic.twitter.com/qX0okqt3yD

— Aditya Raj Kaul (@AdityaRajKaul) August 6, 2025

 

Right-wing BJP government's biggest fan Smita Prakash wanted Trump to impose equivalent tariffs on China and Turkey. 

 

India’s response is sharp and precise. Without naming the countries, India points at China and Turkey which have not been slapped with equivalent tariffs. China imports $219.5 billion worth of Russian oil, gas & coal. Turkey $90 billion. https://t.co/LbOOd2hgWr

— Smita Prakash (@smitaprakash) August 6, 2025

 

Meanwhile, author Rahul Shivshankar has declared that "MODIDIOLOMACY IS MAKING TRUMP LOOK HYPOCRITICAL AND FOOLISH." 

 

HOW MODIPLOMACY IS MAKING TRUMP LOOK HYPOCRITICAL AND FOOLISH.

Trump's "counselor" Peter Navarro virtually admits U.S. is not punishing China like it is punishing India because it will hurt America. pic.twitter.com/k7ZrBzEThC

— Rahul Shivshankar (@RShivshankar) August 7, 2025