Donald Trump has been pressuring India for close to a year to stop buying Russian oil, arguing that energy revenues were helping Vladimir Putin finance his war against Ukraine. He even imposed an additional 25% tariff on Indian imports last year to punish New Delhi for continuing those purchases. Now, with American diesel prices soaring and the November 3 midterm elections hanging on his head like a sword, Trump has struck a deal to bring Russian diesel into global markets.
The reversal exposes an uncomfortable truth that when energy costs threaten voters, geopolitical principles become negotiable. The question is whether Trump will now acknowledge India's argument that affordable energy and the interests of ordinary people cannot simply be sacrificed to foreign policy objectives.
