Washington, D.C. — A growing rift between two of President Trump’s most high-profile advisers—Elon Musk and Peter Navarro—intensified this week, highlighting deep divisions within the administration over U.S. tariff policy.
Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, who also serves as a special government employee under President Trump, launched a fresh wave of criticism against Navarro, President Trump’s Senior Counselor for Trade and Manufacturing. The dispute centers on the administration’s contentious approach to tariffs, which Musk opposes and Navarro firmly supports.
The spat escalated on social media when Musk, responding to Navarro’s recent television appearances, tweeted Tuesday morning: “Navarro is truly a moron. What he says here is demonstrably false.” He followed up shortly after with another post: “Tesla has the most American-made cars. Navarro is dumber than a sack of bricks.”
The online feud began over the weekend, when Musk posted a series of sharply worded statements, including a now-deleted tweet in which he suggested that Navarro, who holds a PhD in Economics from Harvard, “hasn’t built anything.” In a separate post, Musk wrote, “A PhD in Econ from Harvard is a bad thing,” alluding to Navarro’s academic credentials.
Navarro, in return, defended the administration’s tariff stance during an appearance on Fox News, stating that Musk is “simply protecting his own interests,” and dismissed the entrepreneur as “a car assembler, not a car manufacturer.” He doubled down during an interview on CNBC, saying, “We all understand in the White House, and the American people understand, that Elon sells cars. But he’s not building them from scratch.”
A photograph taken on March 14, 2025, showed Musk, Navarro, and White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller engaged in a tense discussion inside the Oval Office—an image that now takes on added significance amid the deepening discord.
Musk’s latest criticisms mark a notable departure from his previous silence on trade policies. In recent posts, he has openly advocated for global trade and warned that Tesla, which produces many of its vehicles in the United States, could be adversely affected by tariffs.
In response, Navarro penned an op-ed in the Financial Times, defending the administration’s trade agenda. He argued that the current international trade system is “broken” and insisted that President Trump’s reciprocal tariff doctrine is the necessary solution to restore balance.
The clash between Musk and Navarro underscores the ongoing debate within the Trump administration as it navigates its economic policies ahead of the upcoming election.
For continued updates on the tariff dispute and trade policy developments, follow our live blog coverage.
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Tensions Escalate Between Elon Musk and Peter Navarro Over Tariff Policy