Last week it was reported that Elon Musk would leave the Donald Trump administration earlier than budgeted and in the last hours, he seemed to break directly with the White House by questioning the tariff rates imposed by the president and insulting the architect of this plan, Peter Navarro.
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The confrontation worsened on Tuesday when Musk referred to Navarro as "truly a moron" and "dumber than a sack of bricks“.
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How did the confrontation between Musk and Navarro begin?
During the weekend, when responding to a user who praised Navarro’s explanations on tariffs, Musk wrote on his X social network that “a PhD in Economics from Harvard is something bad, not something good. It leads to the problem of ego/intelligence >> 1,” and then, when another user intervened saying that Trump’s trade adviser was right, the South African businessman replied: “He hasn’t built sh*t.”
During a visit to Italy to meet with far-right groups, Musk advocated for a free trade zone between North America and Europe, a proposal that directly contrasts with Trump’s tariff policy and goes against Navarro’s protectionist ideas.
Trump’s top commercial advisor responded in an interview with CNBC by saying that Musk “is not a car manufacturer,” but an “assembler” who heavily relies on imported components. Furthermore, he detailed that at Tesla’s facilities in Texas, “the batteries come from Japan and China, and the electronic components from Taiwan.”
Musk’s harsh criticisms of Navarro
“Navarro is truly a moron. What he says here is demonstrably false,” wrote Musk in a message accompanied by a video where Navarro claimed that Tesla imports batteries, electronic systems, and tires, and that it only seeks “cheap foreign parts.”
In subsequent messages, the businessman reiterated that Tesla manufactures most of its vehicles in American soil and accused him of relying on fictitious sources. "You should ask the fake expert who invented, Ron Vara," Musk quipped, referring to a character invented by Navarro and used in five of his books as a supposed trade expert (the supposed “Ron Vara” is just an anagram of Navarro’s last name).
The attacks escalated and became more personal when Musk wrote that “Tesla has the highest number of cars manufactured in the United States. Navarro is dumber than a bag of bricks”.
The conflict occurs as the Trump administration maintains its firm stance on tariffs, Wall Street is in crisis, and critical voices arise within the Republican Party itself.
According to estimates from Bloomberg, Musk has lost 31 billion dollars due to the trade war initiated by Trump’s tariffs.
What did the White House do about the fight between Musk and Navarro?
Despite the aggressive tone of the fight, the White House chose to downplay the controversy.
“The boys will be boys, and we will let their public dispute continue,” said press secretary Karoline Leavitt during a press conference, emphasizing that “clearly, these are two individuals with very different views on trade and tariffs.”
Up to this hour, President Trump has not interfered in this fight between two of his closest advisors.
Musk supported his presidential campaign with hundreds of millions and became his right-hand man during the first 100 days of government, especially for the federal spending cuts through DOGE. In addition, Trump supported the South African businessman against attacks and protests against Tesla cars, even transforming the White House into a temporary exhibition of electric vehicles.
Navarro, in turn, has also shown his loyalty to the president. The current trade advisor was sentenced to four months in prison for contempt after refusing to testify before Congress about his role during the assault on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, carried out by Trump’s supporters.