Tensions are running high…
SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk sparred on social media Tuesday with White House Senior Counselor Peter Navarro, after he made comments about the DOGE adviser during an interview with CNBC.
“Tesla has the most American-made cars. Navarro is dumber than a sack of bricks,” Musk said in an X post on Tuesday.
“Navarro is truly a moron,” Musk said in a separate post. “What he says here is demonstrably false.”
“Navarro is dumber than a sack of bricks,” Musk added, writing later, “By any definition whatsoever, Tesla is the most vertically integrated auto manufacturer in America with the highest percentage of US content. Navarro should ask the fake expert he invented, Ron Vara.”
Both Navarro and Musk are two of Trump’s closest advisors, and Navarro previously served in Trump’s first administration as the director of the White House National Trade Council and the director of the Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy.
Musk is currently spearheading the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency initiative to curb government waste and spending as a “special government employee.”
The executive or legislative branches are permitted to take on temporary employees to address short-term projects for up to 130 days in a single 365-day period, which will expire at the end of May for Musk.
Navarro told CNBC in an interview Monday that Musk is a “car person” who wants “cheap, foreign parts.”
“When it comes to tariffs and trade, 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,” Navarro said. “He’s a car assembler.”
The tension between the two advisors comes days after the Trump administration unveiled a host of tariffs.
The White House dismissed concerns about the expletive-laden fighting between tech billionaire Elon Musk and White House trade advisor Peter Navarro over tariffs, calling it an example of transparency from the Trump administration.
“These are obviously two individuals who have very different views on trade and tariffs. Boys will be boys, and we will let their public sparring continue,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said during Tuesday’s briefing with reporters. “You guys should all be very grateful that we have the most transparent administration in history.”
Leavitt suggested the back-and-forth between Musk and Navarro show Trump’s “willingness to hear from all sides.”
“That he has people at the highest levels of this government, in this White House, who have very diverse opinions on very diverse issues,” she said. “But the president takes all opinions in mind, and then he makes the best decision based on the best interests of the American public.”
