Despite rumors of animosity between himself and billionaire Elon Musk, White House trade adviser Peter Navarro insisted that he and Musk had a “great” working relationship.
To start, Elon and I get along famously. Navarro said as much on Sunday’s episode of “Meet the Press” on NBC News.
These remarks follow last week’s public feud between Navarro and Musk, in which Navarro claimed that Musk’s Tesla is more of a “car assembler” than a “car manufacturer” due to its reliance on foreign-sourced parts.
Even the American people and the White House are aware that Elon is a car manufacturer. On the other hand, Navarro clarified on CNBC that he is not an automaker but rather an assembler. When you visit his company in Texas, you’ll see that a lot of the motors he uses—in this case, the batteries for electric vehicles—are imported from China and Japan. The electronics are manufactured in Taiwan.
Musk apparently found the point offensive and went to X to defend Tesla.
Navarrós is completely fooled. Musk said that his claims were clearly unfounded.
“The number of American-made automobiles produced by Tesla is exceptional. “Navarro is as stupid as a bag of bricks,” Musk continued in a later tweet.
On Sunday, though, Navarro praised Musk for his work for the Trump administration and played down the public spat.
“Everything’s alright with Elon,” Navarro responded. When it comes to preventing fraud, misuse, and waste, Elon and his team are killing it. To the United States of America, that is an enormous gift. No guy should have to deal with the nutjobs who firebomb his vehicles for doing what he does.
Their rift has been minimized by the White House, which has sent a message that President Trump is open to hearing extreme disagreements at the highest levels, according to press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
When it comes to tariffs and commerce, these two people couldn’t be more different. During last week’s press briefing, she stated, “Boys will be boys, and we will let their public sparring continue.” “You guys should all be very grateful that we have the most transparent administration in history.”