'Battling with White House to accept trade deal with India': US senator accuses Donald Trump, Vance and Navarro of stalling deal in leaked audio

United States President Donald Trump, Vice President J D Vance and White House trade adviser Peter Navarro have once again found themselves at the centre of a controversy following US Senator Ted Cruz's accusation over a delayed trade deal with India.

According to a leaked audio recording, Cruz lambasted the Republican Party's top brass for stalling a trade deal with India.

Last year, US and India's relations soured after Trump decided to impose an additional 25 per cent tariff on Indian goods over India’s oil trade with Russia, taking the total US duties on Indian imports to 50 per cent.

Both sides held multiple rounds of negotiations last year to firm up the proposed bilateral trade deal. However, it could not be sealed yet largely in view of Washington's demands to open up India's farm and dairy sectors.

According to news agency, Axios, Cruz ridiculed Trump's tariff policy during private meetings with donors and told them how he was 'battling' with the White House to accept a trade agreement with India.

The recordings were provided to Axios by a Republican source.

When a donor asks who in the administration is resistant to reaching such deals, Cruz mentions Navarro, Vance and "sometimes" Trump.

The Texas Republican Senator, who is eyeing a 2028 White House run, also warned that Trump's tariffs could decimate the economy and lead to his impeachment.

Cruz also said that after the introduction of Liberation Day tariffs in April, many senators, including Cruz, urged the US President to back down. However, the meeting did not go well as Trump began 'yelling' and 'cursing'.

The relation between the two countries came under strain on a number of other issues, including Trump's claim of ending the India-Pakistan conflict in May last year and Washington's new immigration policy.

Earlier this month, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick claimed that the trade deal with India did not happen because PM Narendra Modi did not call President Trump.

Trump earlier said that Modi knew he was unhappy with India's purchases of Russian oil and that Washington could raise tariffs on New Delhi "very quickly".

The threat by the US president came at a time when the two countries were negotiating a bilateral trade agreement.

(with PTI inputs)