Editorial: With a friend like Trump…

• The falling-out between Elon Musk and Donald Trump is only the latest episode in what has already become a mad American presidency. In less than five months, we have seen the US betray its loyal allies to appease adversaries, stage a mugging of the presidents of Ukraine and South Africa in the White House, play fast and loose with tariffs for the benefit of insider traders on Wall Street, and allow its president to accept brazen bribes from foreign countries.

Now, the meltdown of the Trump-Musk bromance lays bare the turbulence at the core of this American presidency. The billionaire has insinuated that Trump kept the bad company of child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein and called for his impeachment. He has also threatened to found and fund a new political party. Trump responded in typical mob-boss fashion, threatening to cancel lucrative government contracts given to Musk’s companies.

The bare-knuckle fight reveals the true character of America under Trump 2.0. It’s a presidency that is chaotic, reactive and dissembling, guided only by the self-interest of the man. All policies, geopolitical or domestic, are subject to his whims and vendettas, not by coherent national strategy. This is a president who will “move fast and break things”, leaving allies and adversaries alike scrambling to adapt. The administration’s trade and security policies are riddled with contradictions, and even members of the G7 are struggling to cope with America’s unpredictability.

So, as he flies to the G7 summit in Canada next week, the question Prime Minister Narendra Modi should be asking himself is: Is this the man to forge a decade-long partnership with? The question has profound implications. The Modi government is steering India towards a US-led Indo-Pacific strategic “partnership” aimed at containing China. India’s importance in this design was underscored by Canadian PM Mark Carney’s invitation to Modi. The country is critically important to global supply chains, which cannot be secured without getting New Delhi on board.

However, India must not fall for such seductions. Instead, it must hedge its bets. In fact, New Delhi cannot afford to be guided at all by Trump’s dependability as an ally. How reliable was the White House during the recent confrontation with Pakistan? And why is every major G7 nation at odds with Trump’s trade and security policies? Why become the client of a bully state?

In the past four months, Modi has been rather too reticent despite provocative pronouncements by Trump and his aides. Back in February, Trump said, in Modi’s presence, that he wanted BRICS to end. In the past four weeks, Trump has repeatedly said he brokered the India-Pak ceasefire, thereby helping Islamabad internationalise the Kashmir dispute. Last week, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick openly lectured India about buying American arms, or else, and criticised its BRICS membership. The Indian PM or his senior ministers have not responded to such needling.

The upcoming G7 summit is an opportunity for Modi to demonstrate the steel in India’s spine. It’s a platform to make clear New Delhi’s imperatives and its resolve to pursue them. Modi must use the occasion to state unequivocally that India will not be dictated to on matters of defence purchases, Kashmir, or BRICS.