Karnataka CM calls Trump’s tariff move 'economic blackmail', slams Modi for 'headline management'

Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday claimed that US President Donald Trump’s 50 per cent tariff on Indian goods was "economic blackmail", blaming it on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s focus on "headline management" rather than prioritising real diplomacy and national interest.

Targeting the Centre, Siddaramaiah alleged that the Modi government had repeatedly ignored "prescient warnings" by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, and called on the prime minister to "grow up and act in India’s interest."

Gandhi had on Wednesday described Trump’s move as an attempt to bully India into an unfair trade deal. He also criticised the additional 25 per cent penalty announced for India’s purchase of Russian oil, saying Modi "must not allow Indian interests to be overridden."

Backing Gandhi’s remarks, Siddaramaiah wrote on 'X', "I fully agree with @RahulGandhi. Be it GST, demonetisation, Chinese aggression, the Modani nexus, COVID failures, farm laws, Rafale, PM CARES, or electoral bonds—Rahul Gandhi called them out early. The BJP mocked him, but he was proven right again and again."

"His warning on Trump’s 50 per cent tariff is no different. It is economic blackmail—the result of PM @narendramodi prioritising headline management over real diplomacy and national interest," the chief minister claimed.

Siddaramaiah claimed that since 2019, Modi had gone out of his way to please Trump—from raising the slogan "Abki Baar Trump Sarkar," (This time, a Trump government), at the 'Howdy Modi' event, to hosting the 'Namaste Trump' rally despite a looming Covid threat, and coining the phrase "Make India Great Again (MIGA)+Make America Great Again (MAGA) equals MEGA."

He also cited Modi’s outreach to Elon Musk despite Musk’s proximity to Trump.

"But Trump wasn’t impressed. He saw it not as diplomacy, but surrender," Siddaramaiah alleged.

"He (Trump) did exactly what a true friend wouldn’t: claimed 33 times that he brokered peace between India and Pakistan, hosted Pakistan’s Army Chief—the man whose hate speeches led to the Pahalgam terror attack—and backed Israel’s brutal assault on Gaza. PM Modi remained silent through it all, to stay in Washington’s good books. No protest. No pushback. No dignity," he alleged.

Siddaramaiah said Trump had now imposed unfair tariffs on India and was attempting to coerce the country into cutting ties with Russia, calling it a "direct attack on our sovereignty".

"No foreign power can dictate our trade choices. This is the cost of running foreign policy like a personal PR campaign," he claimed.

The chief minister also invoked the stance of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi from the 1970s.

"Instead of attacking her legacy, PM Modi should learn from it. India must uphold its strategic autonomy with dignity—not surrender it for photo-ops," he claimed.