How India must deal with Trumpian insults

Disrespect from the US President is not something to be ignored in the earnest hope that America after Trump will be more decent

- Happymon Jacob

The countries Trump respects, however grudgingly, are the ones that have imposed costs on him and held their public posture steady.

(AFP)

he “hellhole” insult directed at India, in a post by an American conservative that US President Donald Trump shared on Truth Social last week and then half-retracted through his embassy in New Delhi 24 hours later (or perhaps the embassy did this on its own), was not an isolated lapse in style or judgement by Trump.

To be sure, it was the latest beat in a remarkably consistent rhythm that Trump has adopted for a year now. Since April 2025, Trump or his White House has delivered roughly one major slight to India every five or six weeks: Tariffs as punishment; repeated Indo-Pak mediation claims that New Delhi had to publicly deny; friendship with Pakistan's army chief whose anti-India posture is well-documented; the “dead economy” jibe; the “obnoxious” tariffs charge and the Trumpian boast that Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi must “make me happy”.

That has to stop. Trumpian disrespect, whether it is a personality defect or something he metes out to everyone secularly, is not something to be ignored in the earnest hope that America after Trump will be more decent. It is what the US is now and what characterises its foreign policy, and that is what India must deal with. What America will be after 2028 is unknown to us today, but what if it gets worse? India’s response so far — decent, indulgent, and silent with occasional hopes of a reset — will only attract more Trumpian disrespect. New Delhi doesn't —and shouldn't — take Washington's insults anymore because words, too, are actions, and actions have consequences.

India’s response must comprise three things.