Top White House trade aide Peter Navarro denied Sunday that there are tensions between him and tech mogul Elon Musk, another senior Trump adviser, days after the billionaire tech mogul called the Harvard-trained economist a “moron.”
“Everything’s fine with Elon,” Navarro told NBC News’ “Meet the Press,” adding with a laugh when asked about the insults, “I’ve been called worse.”
Navarro’s comments come days after an interview with CNBC in which he was questioned about Musk’s stated support for reducing barriers to trade, revealing apparent differences within the administration on Trump’s tariffs plan.
“We all understand in the White House, and the American people understand, that Elon’s a car manufacturer,” Navarro said in the interview. “But he’s not a car manufacturer, he’s a car assembler in many cases.”
The White House trade adviser went on to explain that Musk imports parts for the cars that Tesla makes from Japan, China and Taiwan.
“The difference is, in our thinking and Elon’s on this, is that we want the tires made in Akron,” Navarro added. “We want the transmissions made in Indianapolis. We want the engines made in Flint and Saginaw. And we want the cars manufactured here.”
The Monday CNBC interview prompted Musk to criticize Navarro in a series of posts on X. Musk first called Navarro a “moron,” before adding that Tesla “has the most American-made cars. Navarro is dumber than a sack of bricks.” He followed that with a sarcastic apology, saying the comparison was was “so unfair to bricks.”
On Sunday, Navarro laughed off the reports of tensions between the two men, telling “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker, “Elon and I are agreeing, it’s not an issue.”
He also praised Musk’s work with the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, an initiative that has led the Trump administration’s efforts to lay off thousands of workers in the federal government within the broader goal of targeting “waste, fraud and abuse.”
“Elon is doing a very good job with his team with waste, fraud and abuse,” Navarro said, echoing remarks he made to CNBC. “That’s a tremendous contribution to America.”
After Trump announced details of his tariffs at the start of April, Musk has broken with the administration, saying last weekend that he’d like to see a “zero tariff situation” between the U.S. and Europe.
Then, on Wednesday, Trump temporarily delayed the bulk of reciprocal tariffs he is planning, keeping 10% duties on most nations’ goods for 90 days while the administration works on reaching agreements with trading partners.
Navarro on Sunday defended Trump’s original decision to issue steep hikes on tariffs and defended the president’s limited reversal this week, saying the temporary reduction has made way for negotiations with other countries.
“This is unfolding exactly like we thought it would, in a dominant scenario,” he said, adding later, “We’ve got 90 deals in 90 days possibly pending here, and it was par for the course. Actually, it was a birdie for President Trump to do exactly what he did, which was pause for 90 days, and we’re going to get this done for the American people.”
