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MAGA commentators escalate attacks on India over trade, visas
The controversy comes as Trump doubled tariffs on Indian goods to 50 percent, the highest rate imposed on any U.S. partner.
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Malvika Choudhary - Fri, 05, Sep 2025
- 11:00 EDT
- 17
Laura Ingraham and Charlie Kirk / X ( Laura Ingraham/ Charlie Kirk)
President Donald Trump's tariff increases on Indian goods sparked a barrage of attacks from Republican commentators, who linked trade disputes to visas and immigration in rhetoric that is straining Washington's relations with New Delhi.
Fox News host Laura Ingraham warned on X that any deal with India would mean granting more visas. “Don’t forget that any trade deal with India will require us to give them more visas. I’d rather not pay them in visas and trade deficits. Let Modi see what terms he can get from Xi instead,” she wrote.
Also Read: Trump says India and Russia appear "lost" to "deepest, darkest China"
Her remarks were echoed by Trump ally Charlie Kirk, who accused Indian professionals of displacing American workers. “America does not need more visas for people from India… Enough already. We’re full. Let’s finally put our own people first,” he said. Far-right commentator Jack Posobiec went further, demanding a “100 percent tariff” on all foreign call centres and remote workers.
America does not need more visas for people from India. Perhaps no form of legal immigration has so displaced American workers as those from India. Enough already. We’re full. Let’s finally put our own people first. https://t.co/wcOsorvZFE
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) September 1, 2025
Indian American voices have expressed growing concern. Some who supported Republicans in 2024 elections have expressed regret, calling the new rhetoric “blatant racism.” Journalist Billy Binion challenged the attacks as a form of “entitlement,” accusing conservative commentators of opposing competition from immigrants who “outwork and outperform them.”
Congressman Ro Khanna also warned that Trump’s approach risked derailing a vital partnership. “We can’t allow the ego of Donald Trump to destroy a strategic relationship with India, that is key to ensuring that America leads and not China,” he said.
The controversy comes as Trump doubled tariffs on Indian goods to 50 percent, the highest rate imposed on any U.S. partner. The move, which Washington has tied to India’s continued purchases of Russian oil, threatens nearly $48 billion in Indian exports and millions of jobs in small and medium enterprises.
India has responded with tax cuts and export diversification, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi has signaled openness to closer ties with China and Russia, a development former U.S. national security advisor John Bolton has described as a direct consequence of Trump’s policy.
Indians remain central to the U.S. economy, making up nearly three-quarters of H-1B visa holders and over 330,000 international students.
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