A growing rift between two of President Donald Trump’s advisers—Elon Musk and Peter Navarro—intensified on Tuesday, April 8, 2025with Musk calling Navarro “truly a moron” on social media.
Musk, the CEO of Tesla (TSLA) and SpaceX (SPAX.PVT), also serves as a special government employee under President Trump. He has publicly opposed the administration’s tariff policy, while Navarro, a senior counselor to the president for trade and manufacturing, strongly supports it.
Tensions between the two have been escalating. Over the weekend, Musk wrote on social media that “a PhD in Econ from Harvard is a bad thing,” and in a now-deleted post, he used strong language to criticize Navarro, saying he “hasn’t built anything.”
In response, Navarro appeared on Fox News on Monday and dismissed Musk’s comments. He said, “Elon sells cars” and is “simply protecting his own interests.” Speaking to CNBC, Navarro added, “We all understand in the White House, and the American people understand, that Elon is a car manufacturer. But he’s not a car manufacturer — he’s a car assembler.”
On Tuesday morning, Musk replied to the CNBC interview with another post on social media: “Navarro is truly a moron. What he says here is demonstrably false.” He followed up shortly after with another message: “Tesla has the most American-made cars. Navarro is dumber than a sack of bricks.”
Musk’s recent criticism of U.S. tariff policies marks a shift, as he had previously avoided speaking publicly on the topic. In a series of recent posts, he expressed support for global trade and open markets, warning that Tesla could suffer under the current tariff structure.
Meanwhile, Navarro defended the administration’s trade stance in an op-ed for the Financial Times, writing, “The international trade system is broken — and Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariff doctrine will fix it.”
