Donald Trump’s trade adviser Peter Navarro has brushed off the insults from Elon Musk after a public spat over global tariffs, denying any dent in their relationship as the two officials in the US government.
“It’s not an issue. Everything is fine, Elon Musk and I are great,” said Peter Navarro
Elon Musk, the billionaire Tesla CEO and DOGE baron – appointed to slash federal jobs and downsize the workforce and close Trump ally, earlier this month had called Navarro a “moron” after the trade adviser dismissed Musk’s push for “zero tariffs” between the U.S. and Europe. Navarro had called Musk a car assembler reliant on imported auto parts.
Asked about the tension on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Navarro said, “It’s not an issue.” “Even though he called you a ‘moron’ and ‘dumber than a sack of bricks?'” the NBC anchor pressed.
“I’ve been called worse,” Navarro replied.
“Everything’s fine with Elon. And look, Elon is doing a very good job with his team with waste, fraud and abuse,” he said. “That’s a tremendous contribution to America, and no man doing that kind of thing should be subject to having his cars firebombed by crazies,” referring to the vandalism against Tesla infrastructures and offices in response to Musk’s right-wing activism.
Trump appointed Musk, the world’s richest person, to slash U.S. government spending and downsize the federal workforce. There has been growing unease across the country over Musk’s blunt approach to mass layoffs from the government workforce. Nearly 200,000 employees have been fired, earmarked for termination or have accepted buyouts.
White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt this week downplayed the public clash as a difference of opinion on tariffs, saying “Boys will be boys.”
