CNN’s Fareed Zakaria: The Damage Is Done — India Will No Longer Trust America

In a viral CNN video titled “Fareed's Take: The damage is done: India will no longer trust America”, journalist and author Fareed Zakaria has delivered one of his sharpest critiques yet of U.S. foreign policy. The clip has already garnered over 2 million views and more than 12,000 comments, a testament to how deeply it has resonated across India and the world.

Zakaria warns that Donald Trump’s sudden trade and tariff actions against India represent “the biggest strategic mistake of the Trump presidency so far.” For more than two decades, he explains, Washington had pursued a consistent, bipartisan strategy of engaging India as a partner — a rare example of long-term U.S. foreign policy continuity. Trump’s abrupt reversal risks undoing that historic effort.

A Quarter Century of Progress

“America is often criticized for being short term in its orientation and quick to change course,” Zakaria began. “In fact, Washington often shows a steely consistency in its foreign policy. Consider the strategic outreach to India that began during the Clinton administration and was expanded on in a bipartisan manner over 25 years. Until now.”

That outreach, he reminded viewers, started with President Bill Clinton’s landmark 2000 visit, blossomed under George W. Bush through the historic civil nuclear deal, and deepened during Barack Obama’s “Pivot to Asia.” The first Trump administration elevated the Quad (U.S., Japan, Australia, India) while President Biden built on these foundations, expanding cooperation in defense and technology.

At every stage, the logic was clear: “A rising China was transforming the international system, and the single most important counterweight to China could be India,” Zakaria said.

Trump’s Sudden Reversal

Against this backdrop, Zakaria argued, Trump’s actions in his second term are both “sudden and inexplicable.” He has placed India in the highest tariff category — alongside Syria and Myanmar — while softening his stance toward Pakistan. Reports of Trump meeting privately with Pakistan’s Army Chief and family-linked business interests in that country have only deepened suspicions.

Most jarring was Trump’s rhetoric. He “insulted [India’s] economy, calling it dead,” Zakaria noted, despite India being the fastest-growing large economy in the world, the fourth largest globally, and projected to surpass Germany by 2028.

“Donald Trump has undone decades of painstaking effort by American diplomats,” Zakaria said bluntly.

Indian Reaction: Shock and Anger

India, Zakaria reminded viewers, is “a prickly country,” shaped by its colonial past, Cold War nonalignment, and a longstanding mistrust of Western intentions. Still, years of steady U.S. diplomacy had nudged New Delhi closer to Washington, with growing convergence on trade, defense, and geopolitics.

Now, that trust is shattered. “The country is united in its shock and anger at Trump’s insulting behavior,” Zakaria warned. “Even if Trump reverses course once again, the damage is done. Indians believe that America has shown its true colors — unreliable, willing to be brutal to those it calls its friends.”

A Strategic Misstep with Global Consequences

The fallout, Zakaria suggested, could extend far beyond tariffs. India may revive its tradition of “multi-alignment,” hedging its bets by leaning closer to Russia and even “making amends with China.” That would undercut U.S. strategy in Asia at precisely the moment when China’s rise poses its greatest challenge.

For decades, Zakaria said, he has urged India to deepen ties with America. “I often urge the country to forge closer ties with America, telling Indians that they should shed their ambivalence, that their destiny lies in a great partnership between the world’s oldest and its largest democracy. Today, I would be hard pressed to urge Indians to follow that advice.”

America Risks Squandering 25 Years of U.S.–India Progress

Zakaria’s viral commentary is not just about tariffs — it is about trust. For 25 years, U.S.-India ties symbolized rare bipartisan vision in Washington, converging on the belief that India was central to balancing China. Trump’s sudden reversal threatens to squander that hard-earned progress.

For India, the takeaway is sobering: even after decades of alignment, American friendship can still be undone overnight. For Washington, Zakaria’s warning rings clear — this may yet prove to be the biggest strategic mistake of the Trump presidency.