Trump's personal rapport with Modi 'gone now: Former US NSA Bolton
05-Sep-2025.
Former National Security Adviser John Bolton has said President Donald Trump had a very good personal relationship with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but “that's gone now”, US', cautioning that close ties with the American leader "won't protect" world leaders from the "worst".
Bolton's remarks came against the backdrop of possibly the worst phase in India-US relations in over two decades, with the strain exacerbated by Trump's tariff policy and constant criticism of New Delhi by his administration.
‘That's obviously not the case,” he said, in a recent interview. “I think Trump sees international relations through the prism of his personal relations with leaders. So, if he has a good relationship with Vladimir Putin, the US has a good relationship with Russia.
Bolton, who served as NSA in the first Trump administration, has been very critical of his former boss.
Bolton further said, “Trump had a very good relationship personally with Modi. I think that's gone now, and it's a lesson to everybody, for example, (UK Prime Minister) Keir Starmer, that a good personal relationship may help at times, but it won't protect you from the worst”.
US President Donald Trump is scheduled to visit the UK from September 17 to 19.
Bolton said in social media post, the White House has "set US-India relations back decades, pushing Modi closer to Russia and China’, Beijing has cast itself as an alternative to the US and Donald Trump”.
The former NSA said Trump's treatment of India over the past several months has undermined years of bipartisan US efforts to wean New Delhi away from its Cold War alignment with Russia and to ensure Indian policymakers across the spectrum recognise China as their principal security challenge.
“That has been reversed. I think it can be reversed again, but it's a very bad moment," he said.
Earlier Bolton had said that the tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on India for its purchase of Russian oil may have pushed New Delhi closer to the Beijing-Moscow axis, describing it as an “unforced error”.
Recently, Bolton's Maryland home and Washington office were searched by the FBI as part of a criminal probe into the alleged mishandling of classified material.
