Senior White House trade aide Peter Navarro on Sunday brushed off questions about tensions between him and fellow Trump administration adviser Elon Musk, who called the economist “a moron” last week over his comments about Tesla’s manufacturing practices.
“Elon and I are great,” Navarro said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” referring to Musk’s recent attacks. “It’s not an issue. … I’ve been called worse.”
Navarro’s Defense and Musk’s Response
Navarro’s defense comes less than a week after the economist criticized Tesla’s dependence on foreign supply chains, triggering a blistering tirade of social media attacks from Tesla founder Musk.
Speaking on CNBC, Navarro claimed Musk “isn’t a car manufacturer — he’s a car assembler.”
“What we want … is tires made in Akron, [Ohio,] transmissions in Indianapolis and engines in Flint, [Michigan],” Navarro continued, referring to Tesla’s reliance on imports from China, which has been slapped with tariffs that now add up to 145 percent on many goods.
In response, Musk — who lost billions as a result of Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariff announcement earlier this month — rebutted Navarro’s claims. “Navarro is truly a moron. What he says here is demonstrably false,” Musk wrote in a post on X, the social media platform he owns.
“Tesla has the most American-made cars,” Musk said in another post, linking to a study that ranked Tesla’s Models Y, 3, X and S as the top four most American vehicles based on factors such as assembly location, transmission origin and U.S. manufacturing workforce. “Navarro is dumber than a sack of bricks.”
White House Officials’ Reactions
Navarro isn’t the only White House official to downplay the perceived tensions between Navarro and Musk. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt dismissed questions about Musk’s social media tirade last week.
“Boys will be boys, and we will let their public sparring continue,” Leavitt said.
Despite being pressed by NBC’s Kristen Welker about the public spat, Navarro reiterated that there is no animosity between him and the tech mogul, praising Musk’s helming of the Department of Government Efficiency.
“Everything’s fine with Elon,” Navarro said. “And look, Elon is doing a very good job with his team with waste, fraud and abuse. That’s a tremendous contribution to America.”
