David Vance SubstackRead More
Well, I did not expect to see two of President Trump’s most senior advisers get into a very public spat with each other and yet that is what exactly what just happened between Elon Musk and Peter Navarro! I have never spoken with Musk but did interview Navarro a few years ago and found him quite a formidable no nonsense character. Both men are trusted by Trump but that did not stop this row from exploding!
They reignited their feud over tariffs, hurling insults and clashing over economic policy in a heated exchange that underscores deep-seated ideological differences.
Musk was not impressed being called “a car assembler” by Navarro and even posted the tweet at the top of this article before deleting it! Musk then doubled down on it!
Navarro, never one to back down, retaliated by calling Musk a “pathological liar” and accusing him of hypocrisy, pointing to Tesla’s reliance on government subsidies and its manufacturing operations in China.
Ouch!
The bad blood between these two stretches back years but flared up when Navarro criticised Musk’s vocal opposition to tariffs. Musk has long argued that tariffs are a relic of misguided economic thinking, inflating costs for consumers and hamstringing businesses that depend on global supply chains. He’s repeatedly hammered this point, warning that Trump’s proposed tariff hikes could tank the economy. Navarro, a key architect of Trump’s trade policies during his first term, sees it differently. He champions tariffs as a tool to protect American jobs and counter what he calls unfair trade practices, especially from China.
It strikes me that Navarro is much closer to Trump’s ideology on this than Musk.
The feud then escalated when Navarro suggested Musk’s stance is self-serving, tied to Tesla’s massive Shanghai factory, which pumps out cars for both China and export markets. Navarro argued that Musk’s anti-tariff rhetoric conveniently ignores how Tesla profits from Chinese labour and lax regulations—benefits he claims are denied to U.S. workers. Musk shot back, dismissing Navarro’s economic grasp as “stone age” and accusing him of peddling policies that would crush innovation and growth. “Navarro wouldn’t know a good trade policy if it hit him in the face,” Musk quipped doubling down on his free-market stance.
Navarro didn’t let it slide. In a fiery rebuttal, he accused Musk of thriving on billions in U.S. government handouts—subsidies for Tesla’s electric vehicles and SpaceX’s NASA contracts—while pretending to be a free-market purist.
“Musk’s entire empire is built on the taxpayer’s dime,”
Navarro sneered, labeling him a hypocrite who cries foul when tariffs threaten his bottom line.
When asked about this public row, here is the response from the White House!
Bad blood between Navarro and Musk is unedifying BUT at least it is an honest disagreement!
****If you enjoy all the content that I put out here every day, can I ask you to consider to becoming a PAID subscriber, it’s only £5 a month, you can cancel if you don’t enjoy it but I know you will. I want to thank the kind people who already do this, without your help this becomes impossible. Thank you in anticipation***
Views: 1
