Two Democratic analysts slammed President Donald Trump on Wednesday for sacrificing the U.S.'s relationship with India for a personal grievance.
Ben Rhodes, the former deputy national security advisor during the Obama administration, joined Tommy Vietor on a new episode of the podcast "Pod Save America" on YouTube to discuss Trump's approach to foreign policy. Rhodes noted that more than 20 countries gathered in China recently with the express purpose of "humiliating" Trump.
But Trump's management of one relationship in particular caught Rhodes' attention. Trump and Indian President Narendra Modi have become distant, as evidenced by Modi attending the gathering in China alongside Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Rhodes said the development with Modi is "hugely important" from a foreign policy perspective.
"Some people think foreign policy is really complicated. Sometimes it's not," Rhodes said. "If you treat someone like s---, they're going to cozy up to your adversaries. And there's Modi signaling, 'Hey, I'm actually moving in the direction of this team, not your team.' And that is a massive tectonic shift."
For decades, U.S. presidents have sought to cozy up to India because of the country's growing economic influence, Rhodes explained. However, Rhodes said Trump has seemingly thrown that relationship away because Modi refused to nominate Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize after tensions between India and Pakistan from earlier this year settled.
"It couldn't be dumber," Rhodes said.
"For Trump to come in, it makes India, which is a very proud country of over a billion people, feel humiliated," Rhodes added. "It's like they're in the same weight class as Pakistan, and the U.S. told them to stop it, and Trump should get a Nobel Peace Prize. It is absolutely humiliating to Modi that Trump did that."
Watch the entire clip below or by clicking here.