Peter Navarro and Elon Musk.
Julia Nikhinson | Nathan Howard | Reuters
Prime White Home commerce aide Peter Navarro denied Sunday that there are tensions between him and tech mogul Elon Musk, one other senior Trump adviser, days after the billionaire tech mogul known as the Harvard-trained economist a “moron.”
“Every part’s high quality with Elon,” Navarro instructed NBC Information’ “Meet the Press,” including with fun when requested concerning the insults, “I have been known as worse.”
Navarro’s feedback come days after an interview with CNBC during which he was questioned about Musk’s said assist for decreasing boundaries to commerce, revealing obvious variations inside the administration on Trump’s tariffs plan.
“All of us perceive within the White Home, and the American folks perceive, that Elon’s a automotive producer,” Navarro mentioned within the interview. “However he isn’t a automotive producer, he is a automotive assembler in lots of circumstances.”
The White Home commerce adviser defined that Musk imports elements for the vehicles that Tesla makes from Japan, China and Taiwan.
“The distinction is, in our pondering and Elon’s on this, is that we would like the tires made in Akron,” Navarro added. “We would like the transmissions made in Indianapolis. We would like the engines made in Flint and Saginaw. And we would like the vehicles manufactured right here.”
The Monday CNBC interview prompted Musk to criticize Navarro in a collection of posts on X. Musk first known as Navarro a “moron,” earlier than including that Tesla “has probably the most American-made vehicles. Navarro is dumber than a sack of bricks.” He adopted that with a sarcastic apology, saying the comparability was was “so unfair to bricks.”
On Sunday, Navarro laughed off the stories of tensions between the 2 males, telling “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker, “Elon and I are agreeing, it is not a problem.”
He additionally praised Musk’s work with the so-called Division of Authorities Effectivity, an initiative that has led the Trump administration’s efforts to put off 1000’s of employees within the federal authorities inside the broader aim of focusing on “waste, fraud and abuse.”
“Elon is doing an excellent job together with his group with waste, fraud and abuse,” Navarro mentioned, echoing remarks he made to CNBC. “That is an incredible contribution to America.”
After Trump introduced particulars of his tariffs firstly of April, Musk has damaged with the administration, saying final weekend that he’d prefer to see a “zero tariff scenario” between the U.S. and Europe.
Then, on Wednesday, Trump quickly delayed the majority of reciprocal tariffs he’s planning, maintaining 10% duties on most nations’ items for 90 days whereas the administration works on reaching agreements with buying and selling companions.
Navarro on Sunday defended Trump’s authentic determination to difficulty steep hikes on tariffs and defended the president’s restricted reversal this week, saying the momentary discount has made method for negotiations with different international locations.
“That is unfolding precisely like we thought it could, in a dominant state of affairs,” he mentioned, including later, “We have got 90 offers in 90 days presumably pending right here, and it was par for the course. Truly, it was a birdie for President Trump to do precisely what he did, which was pause for 90 days, and we’ll get this achieved for the American folks.”
