Top White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said Elon Musk is only looking after his own interests after the world’s richest man criticized him and seemed to break with the Trump administration on tariffs.
“Elon when he’s in his DOGE lane is great, but we understand what’s going on here. Elon sells cars. He’s simply protecting his own interests,” Navarro told Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.”
Navarro added that Musk’s Tesla supply chain is clearly set to take a huge hit from the tariff regime. He pointed out that while Teslas are made at factories in Texas, “they get a lot of their content from China, Mexico, Japan and Taiwan and elsewhere.”
On Saturday, Musk took several public shots against Navarro, the White House senior counselor for trade and manufacturing — who is seen as one of President Trump’s top advocates of the sweeping tariffs he announced last week that will put hefty duties on most of America’s big trading partners.
“A PhD in Econ from Harvard is a bad thing, not a good thing. Results in the ego/brains>>1 problem,” Musk vented on X Saturday in response to a user touting the trade adviser’s explanations of tariffs.
Another user chimed in, saying that Navarro was “correct” in his assessment of tariffs, prompting Musk to retort, “He ain’t built sh—.”
In separate remarks, Musk expressed his desire for the Trump administration to ease up on tariffs against Europe. The Trump administration announced a 20% generic tariff against the European Union last week.
“At the end of the day, I hope it’s agreed that both Europe and the United States should move ideally, in my view, to a zero tariff situation, effectively creating a free trade zone between Europe and North America,” Musk said during a video-link at a congress in Florence of Italy’s right-leaning co-ruling League.
“If people wish to work in Europe or wish to work in North America, they should be allowed to do so in my view,” Musk told League leader Matteo Salvini, adding that this “has certainly been my advice to the president.”
