Trump Says Russia, India ‘Lost to Deepest, Darkest China’

In a cryptic post on Truth Social, US President Donald Trump appeared to express concern over the deepening alliance between Russia, India and China, claiming that Washington had “lost” two major world powers to “deepest, darkest China.”

“Looks like we’ve lost India and Russia to deepest, darkest China,” Trump wrote on Friday, Sept 5. “May they have a long and prosperous future together!”

The post was accompanied by an image of the three nations’ leaders walking together at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Tianjin, China, where they met to push a new global world order.

The summit and subsequent parade, hosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping, lured more than 20 heads of state including Russian President Vladimir Putin, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, as well as a string of others from Asia and the Middle East.

It raised eyebrows for its overt challenge to the US-led world order, with Beijing taking the opportunity to offer new financial incentives to countries aligned with the Chinese-led economic and security group.

“Global governance has reached a new crossroads,” Xi told the summit in remarks widely interpreted as a veiled critique of US dominance. “We must continue to take a clear stand against hegemonism and power politics, and practice true multilateralism.”

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Russian media reported widespread complaints about the failure of Moscow’s warning system, with residents saying they received no SMS alerts and heard no air raid sirens.

Putin echoed the sentiment, saying that the SCO would revive “genuine multilateralism” and lay “the political and socioeconomic groundwork for the formation of a new system of stability and security in Asia.”

The leaders then traveled to Beijing for a Chinese military parade which commemorated 80 years since Japan’s surrender in World War II.

In Beijing, Putin said that Russia’s ties with China were at an “unprecedented level,” with Xi responding in turn that Beijing was willing to work with Moscow to “promote the construction of a more just and reasonable global governance system.”

Trump’s claim that the US has “lost” Russia and India reflects recent tensions between New Delhi and Washington after the latter imposed a 25% tariff on all Indian imports on Aug. 1.

It was followed by additional tariffs on Aug. 6 aimed at cutting off India’s purchase of Russian oil, which the Trump administration said undermined efforts by the international community to isolate Moscow.

However, India appears to be disregarding threats, with its finance minister stating on Friday that India will continue to purchase Russian oil as long as it proves economical, according to Reuters.

Doubling down on ties to Moscow, Modi told Putin on Monday that India and Russia “always stood shoulder-to-shoulder even in the most difficult situations.”

China and India have become two of Russia’s biggest oil customers, capitalizing on steep price drops after Western countries cut economic ties with Moscow over its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The US has also previously threatened to impose tariffs of up to 100% on Chinese imports into the US if Beijing continues to purchase sanctioned Russian oil, also complaining of its sales of over $15 billion in dual-use technology goods to Russia.

Last year, China purchased a record-breaking 100 million tonnes of Russian crude oil, or 20% of its total energy imports, deepening ties between the countries while helping to replenish Russia’s war chest.

The post on Truth Social appeared to be a pivot from Trump’s previous position. On Wednesday, the US President said of the huge military parade held in Beijing that it was “very, very impressive.”

“I understood the reason they were doing it. And they were hoping I was watching, and I was watching,” he said in the Oval Office.

Nonetheless, Trump remained conciliatory at that stage, saying: “My relationship with all of them is very good. We’re going to find out how good it is over the next week or so.”