'He threw it away': Obama aide slams Trump for 'spoiling decades-long' ties with India over Nobel bid

Former US Ambassador to Japan and top Democratic leader Rahm Emanuel slammed US President Donald Trump, accusing the Republican firebrand of spoiling America’s ties with India over his Nobel bid. In an interview with an independent news outlet called MeidasTouch, Emmanuel said that Trump dismantled decades of bipartisan diplomatic progress with India.

He went on to allege that the president acted “out of ego and for some money from Pakistan.” “As we talk about Japan and Korea, our mismanagement of India — a major, major counterweight against China — has been disastrous,” Emanuel said. “The President of the United States has literally thrown away 40 years of meticulous, strategic planning, and enhancing and warming the relationship,” he added.

It is important to note that Emanuel served as White House chief of staff under former President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2010 and as Mayor of Chicago from 2011 to 2019. The former investment banker also served in the US House of Representatives for three terms between 2003 and 2009.

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‘He threw it away’

In the interview, Emanuel maintained that Trump ’threw away’ decades-long ties with India because Prime Minister Narendra Modi declined to endorse him for a Nobel Peace Prize. Trump has been demanding a Nobel for a while, claiming that he has resolved 7 conflicts, including the 4-day military escalation between India and Pakistan following the Pahalgam terror attack.

While Pakistan has often nominated him for the prestigious award, India maintained that the ceasefire between the two nuclear-powered nations was a bilateral decision and no third party was involved. “He threw it all away because Modi would not say that the President deserves a Nobel Peace Prize for the ceasefire that he worked out,” Emanuel told MeidasTouch.

And the President, out of ego, and then out of money from Pakistan that was paying both his son and Whitkoff’s son." The top Democratic leader was appearing to be speaking in refrence to a business deal in April between Pakistan Crypto Council and a company co-founded by Zach Witkoff, in which Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, and Jared Kushner reportedly hold stakes.

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The former Chicago mayor called the move a “major strategic blunder,” and warned that Beijing has seized on Washington’s missteps. “This is a major strategic blunder that China has used to their advantage,” he said, pointing to the growing Chinese presence in the Indian Ocean and rising tariffs on US goods.

The ties between India and the United States deteriorated after Trump imposed nearly 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods. The Trump administration often complained about New Delhi’s purchase of Russian oil amid the war in Ukraine. New Delhi condemned the move and called out the “double standards” over how the Trump administration has been dealing with tariffs.