Peter Navarro, a former advisor to Donald Trump, has lashed out at Elon Musk after a Community Note on X, formerly Twitter, fact-checked his post concerning India's purchase of Russian oil. Navarro accused Musk of allowing "propaganda" on the platform and reiterated his claims that India is "profiteering" from the situation.

Navarro's initial post on X criticized India for its oil imports from Russia, alleging that it was purely for profit and that the revenues were feeding the Russian war machine. He also claimed that India didn't buy any Russian oil before Russia invaded Ukraine and that India's high tariffs were costing Americans jobs. In response to Navarro's post, a Community Note was added, providing additional context. The note stated that India's Russian oil purchases are for energy security and do not violate sanctions. It also pointed out that the U.S. has a trade surplus with India in services and continues to import certain commodities from Russia. Community Notes are added by X contributors to provide context to potentially misleading posts. If enough contributors from different points of view rate a note as helpful, it becomes publicly visible.

Navarro, clearly unhappy with the fact check, responded by calling the Community Note "crap" and accusing Elon Musk of allowing propaganda on X. "Wow. @elonmusk is letting propaganda into people's posts. That crap note below is just that. Crap. India buys Russia oil solely to profiteer. It didn't buy any before Russia invaded Ukraine. Indian govt spin machine moving high tilt. Stop killing Ukranians. Stop taking American jobs," Navarro wrote on X.

Navarro's remarks were made in response to a Washington Post article that described the conflicting efforts within the Trump administration to mend the relationship with India. Navarro has repeatedly criticized India for its continued trade with Moscow, even calling the conflict "Modi's war" and labeling the country "Kremlin's laundromat".

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has rejected Navarro's comments, calling them "inaccurate and misleading statements". MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal stated, "We have seen the inaccurate and misleading statements made by Navarro, and obviously, we reject them".

Users on X have also pushed back against Navarro's claims, with some pointing out the hypocrisy of the U.S. criticizing India's oil imports from Russia while continuing to import certain commodities from Russia itself. Others noted that India's oil purchases are for energy security and do not violate sanctions. Some users also countered Navarro's claim that India's tariffs are costing U.S. jobs, arguing that automation is the primary driver of manufacturing losses and that India's imports from the U.S. support jobs.