Trump angry with India because he thinks Modi stands between him and the Nobel Peace Prize!

United States President Donald Trump is angry with India and imposed a 50 percent tariff on Indian imports to the US because, it turns out, he believes Prime Minister Narendra Modi is standing between him and the Nobel Peace Prize!

- S VENKAT NARAYAN

The New York Times reported on Saturday that Trump had spoken to Modi on June 17, claiming credit for “stopping an imminent nuclear war” between India and Pakistan.

He reportedly told Modi that a grateful Pakistan’s Army Chief Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir Ahmed Shah had promptly recommended his name for the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize. Indirectly, he was suggesting that Modi too should do the same.

Modi told Trump ever so politely that India actually stopped the four-day (May7-10) conflict only after the Pakistani Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) contacted his Indian counterpart and requested to stop it.

This disappointed Trump to no end.

Incidentally, Trump was the first to proclaim an end to the conflict on his Truth Social platform even before it was formally announced in New Delhi and Islamabad. Since then, he has falsely claimed credit for stopping the conflict at least 40 times!

And Trump has been publicly pushing for the Nobel, emphasizing his diplomatic claims—such as influencing conflicts in Ukraine, the Middle East, South Asia, and Africa—as justification for winning.