White House Senior Counsel for Trade and Manufacturing Peter Navarro dismissed rumors of a feud with White House Senior Advisor Elon Musk Sunday on “Meet the Press,” saying “everything is fine.”
Musk said Navarro was a “moron” in a post on X after Navarro called the Tesla CEO a “car assembler” and criticized the tech billionaire’s use of foreign parts. “Meet the Press” host Kristen Welker questioned Navarro about rumors he had been “sidelined” and about the clash with Musk over President Donald Trump’s tariff and trade policy.
“I’ve been called worse. Everything is fine with Elon,” Navarro told Welker while laughing. “And look, Elon is doing a great job with his team with waste, fraud and abuse and that’s a contribution to America and no man doing that kind of thing should be subject to having his cars firebombed by crazies.”
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Navarro then pivoted to explain his position on trade, saying that the imbalances were not just about tariffs, but that Trump wanted to address “non-tariff barriers.”
“This is really kind of interesting. We had Vietnam come to us first and then the EU,” Navarro said. “Zero tariffs get the American people virtually nowhere, particularly with a country like Vietnam, which sells us $15 for every $1 we sell. It doesn’t work. The big problem we have are the non-tariff barriers, the currency manipulation, the dumping, the VAT taxes and all of that stuff that… we have no defense against other than tariffs right now.”
Trump announced reciprocal tariffs to address import duties and “horrendous imbalances” in trade April 2 during a Rose Garden event, then announced a 90-day pause Wednesday for most countries in a post on Truth Social. Trump also announced Wednesday increased tariffs on China after the communist country imposed retaliatory tariffs on American exports.
Welker then asked Navarro if he had been “sidelined.”
“I’m here. I’m here on ‘Meet the Press,’” Navaro replied. “I think you’d like to think this is the top show on Sunday.”
“I’d like to think so,” Welker responded.
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