Former US ambassador Rahm Emanuel has accused Donald Trump of &ldquo;mismanaging India&rdquo; and undoing decades of strategic groundwork designed to counter China&rsquo;s influence in Asia. In a recent podcast appearance, Emanuel, who served as Washington&rsquo;s envoy to Japan, said Trump&rsquo;s erratic approach to Asia policy and his personal ego disrupted key alliances. &ldquo;Our mismanagement of India, a major, major counterweight against China, the President literally threw away 40 years of meticulous strategic planning,&rdquo; he remarked.
Emanuel said Trump&rsquo;s fallout with Prime Minister Narendra Modi stemmed from vanity rather than policy. &ldquo;He threw it all away because Modi would not say the President deserves a Nobel Prize for the ceasefire he worked out,&rdquo; the diplomat claimed. The rift, he argued, cost the US a vital partnership in balancing Beijing&rsquo;s growing assertiveness.
The former ambassador further alleged that Trump&rsquo;s dealings with Pakistan were a &ldquo;major strategic blunder,&rdquo; referencing a 2025 crypto deal involving Trump&rsquo;s associates. &ldquo;Out of ego and then out of money from Pakistan that was paying both his son and Witkoff&rsquo;s son, this is a major strategic blunder that China has used to their advantage,&rdquo; Emanuel said. He suggested the move signaled weakness to Beijing and fractured Washington&rsquo;s credibility among allies.
Emanuel also criticized Trump&rsquo;s decision to impose tariffs on allies without regard for defense or strategic ties. &ldquo;The United States is tariffing our allies without thinking through the equities of defense spending and alignment against China,&rdquo; he said. While acknowledging that Trump&rsquo;s unpredictability sometimes yielded results, he warned it was disastrous in Asia: &ldquo;That chaotic process is now a detriment in confronting China.&rdquo;

Ex-US envoy slams Trump for ‘mismanaging India’

Rahm Emanuel says Trump’s ego and trade chaos weakened US strategy against China

Ex-US envoy slams Trump for ‘mismanaging India’

Rahm Emanuel says Trump’s ego and trade chaos weakened US strategy against China

October 16, 2025 | 19:57 IST