Democrat Congressman Ro Khanna Slams Trump, Says US-India Ties at ‘30-Year Low’

In a sharp critique of Washington's foreign policy, Democrat Congressman Ro Khanna on Monday (local time) claimed that under current President Trump US-India relationship had deteriorated to its lowest point in three decades.

Addressing the IX USISPF Leadership Summit 2026 in Washington, DC, Khanna refused to "mince words" regarding the current state of global affairs.

He argued that the Trump administration's "unilateral" actions, specifically its aggressive policies toward Iran, have been utterly destructive to global stability and have directly harmed India by driving up domestic gas prices, a reality he noted could be confirmed by Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.

The congressman sharply criticised the administration's decision to engage in what he described as a unilateral war without consulting traditional allies, stating that the approach has severely damaged the US' credibility.

"The idea that we engaged in a unilateral war without our allies, without even consulting Europe or Canada or India, and made a mess of the world, has hurt our credibility," he stated.

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Khanna also targeted the administration's economic strategy, calling the ongoing tariff disputes irrational.

He further recounted a meeting in China where the Indian ambassador told him that "a generation of trust had been lost" due to President Trump's actions.

Khanna emphasised that the next generation will face the dual burden of rebuilding America and repairing its fractured relationships around the world.

To illustrate his point, he drew a stark contrast between Donald Trump and Franklin D Roosevelt, whom he called one of the greatest presidents in American history.

"The new generation is not only gonna have to rebuild America, we're gonna have to rebuild our relationships around the world,” he said.

“And I contrast one of the greatest presidents with arguably the worst president in our history: FDR with Donald Trump. And what was the difference? See, FDR actually believed in the self-determination of people. FDR was a supporter of what my grandfather Amarnath Vidyalankar was doing, working with Lala Lajpat Rai," he added.

Khanna's critique had came after USISPF's Honorary Senior Advisor Al Mason said that the India-US relationship has regained "historic momentum", crediting US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor with helping revive ties between US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

(With inputs from ANI)