Billionaire Elon Musk and President Donald Trump’s trade adviser Peter Navarro are publicly sparring over tariffs, marking the first major policy break between Musk and the administration.
In the latest example of their public spat, Navarro said during a CNBC appearance that Musk’s Teslas have engine parts from Asia; the difference in the administration’s thinking and Musk’s, he said, is “we want the tires made in Akron. We want the transmissions made in Indianapolis. We want the engines made in Flint and Saginaw. And we want the cars manufactured here.”
“Navarro is truly a moron. What he says here is demonstrably false,” Musk posted Tuesday in reply to the video clip.
“Tesla has the most American-made cars. Navarro is dumber than a sack of bricks,” Musk replied again, tagging both Navarro’s X account and an account called “IfindRetards.”
Navarro is generally taking a less aggressive approach and said there was “no rift” during a Sunday FOX appearance.
“Look, Elon, when he’s in his DOGE lane, he’s great. But we understand what’s going on here. We just have to understand. Elon sells cars,” Navarro said when asked about the conflict. “And he’s simply protecting his own interests as any businessperson would do. We are more concerned about Detroit building Cadillacs with American engines, and that’s what this is all about.”
That appearance came after a public lob from Musk. “A PhD in Econ from Harvard is a bad thing, not a good thing. Results in the ego/brains>>1 problem,” Musk posted on X on Saturday, replying to a video of Navarro justifying the tariffs on CNN. Navarro holds that academic certification.
Navarro has long been one of the most aggressive supporters of both Trump and steep tariffs. Navarro’s “superpower is his relentlessness,” Steve Bannon told NOTUS earlier this year. MAGA “is definitely on Peter’s side” in the feud, a Republican strategist told NOTUS this week.
The conflict on tariffs is the first major policy dispute out in public between the administration and Musk; Trump has consistently praised Musk’s work at DOGE and defended him against criticism of his drastic cuts even from within the Republican Party.
But after Trump’s tariffs were announced and then took effect, the stock market veered sharply downwards and saw its worst week since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Experts including Fed Chair Jerome Powell say tariffs will likely lead to inflation if they’re around for long enough, and business leaders are panicking about the tariffs.
Musk is no exception, vocally opposing the tariffs and pinning the blame on Navarro. Musk has even said that he would like to see a “zero-tariff situation” and a “free trade zone” between Europe and the U.S.
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Nuha Dolby is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow. Jasmine Wright contributed reporting.