A War of Words between two of Donald Trump’s most powerful allies threatens to destabilize the White House
Donald Trump’s new protectionist policy is generating a shock wave not only in global markets, but also inside his own team. The public dispute between two of his most powerful allies, Peter Navarro and Elon Musk, reached a point of tension, with a change of barbs that exposes deep divisions in the US administration.
The high point of discord? Navarro, Trump’s senior counselor for commerce, called Musk “car assembler” and devalued the billionaire criticism of Trump’s tariffs. The answer was not slow to arrive – and publicly burst on Musk’s own social platform, X.
Crossfire began after Musk criticized the new tariffs imposed by the US president and defend a “zero fare zone” with Europe. Navarro, during an interview with Fox News, responded with a direct provocation: “It was interesting to hear Elon Musk talk about a zero fare zone with Europe. He doesn’t understand this, he’s the Tesla president. What I think is important about Elon is what he sells cars. That’s what he does,” he said last Sunday.
This Monday, after Musk from economist Milton Friedman to promote free trade and international supply chains, Navarro reinforced his point:
“When it comes to tariffs and commerce, we all in the White House understand – and the American people also understand – that Elon is a car assembler, but not a car manufacturer. He is in Texas assembling cars with mexico, China, Japan… Electronics comes from Taiwan,” he said in an interview with CNBC.
Trump Advisor Peter Navarro moments ago on talking about Elon Musk:
Elon “is not a car manufacturer. He’s a car assembler.”
– ed crasststein (@edcrosses)
The exchange of attacks gained strength in the X, where Musk did not spare Trump’s counselor. After a user highlighting Navarro’s doctorate in economics from Harvard University, Musk mocked: “A Harvard Economics PhD is a bad thing, not a good thing. It results in the ego/brain problem >> 1”.
And when a user defended Navarro, Musk fired, “He didn’t build anything.”
A PhD in Econ from Harvard is a bad thing, not a good thing.
Results in the ego/brains>>1 problem.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk)
Musk’s criticism comes at a particularly delicate moment for the billionaire, who has several companies and has seen their net heritage significantly oscillate since “Liberation Day”: their fortune has fallen by $ 11 billion (which corresponds to about 10 billion euros), about -2.5%.
In addition, Tesla sales fell 13% in the first quarter of 2025, the largest drop in the company’s history. The quotation of electric car giant shares has lost half of its value since December, and Musk has faced protests in both Europe and the United States, fueled by its direct connection with the Trump administration and its role as head of Doge (Department of Government Efficiency), in charge of cutting expenses and dismissing thousands of federal officials. Nearby sources indicate that yours is imminent.
Navarro devalues the conflict
Despite the scathing tone, Navarro insisted that everything is fine between him and Musk and minimized the impact of the confrontation. “We do not care that he says what he wants. The American people need to understand that we know what it is about,” he said.
However, what is concerned goes beyond personal rivalry. Musk represents the technological sector and the globalized economy. Navarro, who advocates the hard Age (Make America Great Again ”(” Make America Great Again ” In the center is Donald Trump, trying to impose his new commercial order – even at the expense of peace within his own team.
