Musk-Navarro Feud Exposes White House Trade Policy Rift

ByAva Sinclair

Elon Musk has escalated his public attack on presidential trade advisor Peter Navarro, calling him “truly a moron” and “dumber than a sack of bricks” as Tesla shares plummeted for a fourth consecutive day. The extraordinarily public spat between two Trump administration insiders reveals deepening divisions over the president’s sweeping tariff policy, which has sent global markets into a tailspin and threatens to significantly impact Tesla’s production costs.

Musk’s fury erupted after Navarro dismissed Tesla as merely “a car assembler, in many cases” during a CNBC interview defending the administration’s tariff strategy. “By any definition whatsoever, Tesla is the most vertically integrated auto manufacturer in America with the highest percentage of US content,” Musk fired back on his social platform X, according to BBC News.

Photo Source: Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency/DepositPhotos

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White House Acknowledges Rift

The unprecedented public quarrel between Musk, who runs the administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), and Navarro, a key architect of Trump’s trade policy, prompted an unusual response from the White House. “These are obviously two individuals who have very different views on trade and on tariffs,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters. “Boys will be boys, and we will let their public sparring continue,” she added, as reported by CNBC.

The feud represents the most significant public disagreement among Trump’s inner circle since he took office in January. Musk, who contributed approximately $290 million to help return Trump to the White House, has increasingly signaled his opposition to the administration’s protectionist trade stance, which stands in stark contrast to his own global business interests.

Tesla Shares in Freefall

Tesla stock has dropped 22% in the past four trading sessions and a staggering 45% since the beginning of the year, wiping out more than $585 billion in market value. The decline accelerated following Trump’s announcement of tariffs on more than 180 countries and territories, despite analysts initially suggesting Tesla might weather the trade storm better than competitors due to its domestic manufacturing footprint.

However, industry experts note that while Tesla vehicles sold in the U.S. are assembled domestically, the company remains vulnerable to rising costs for imported materials and components. “The tariffs in their current form will disrupt Tesla, the overall supply chain, and its global footprint which has been a clear advantage over the years vs. rising competitors like BYD,” technology analyst Dan Ives explained to the BBC.

Family Affair

The conflict has expanded beyond Musk himself, with his brother Kimbal – a Tesla board member – joining the fray. Kimbal criticized the tariffs as a “permanent tax on the American consumer” and described the U.S.-China trade tensions as “not a game that should be played by C-minus students like Peter Navarro.”

Musk’s public stance reflects growing unease among American business leaders. Yale School of Management professor Jeffrey Sonnenfeld told the BBC that Musk is articulating what many CEOs think but are reluctant to say publicly. “Seventy-nine percent of them said they’re embarrassed in front of international partners, and 89 percent said this is needlessly taking us into a recession and a misguided economic policy,” Sonnenfeld said, citing a recent survey of executives.

Photo Source: Gage Skidmore/Peter Navarro/WikipediaCommons

Conflicting Business Interests

Musk’s opposition to the tariff policy also stems from his significant business interests in Europe. At an event hosted by Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini last weekend, Musk advocated for “a zero-tariff situation, effectively creating a free trade zone between Europe and North America” – a vision directly contradicting the Trump administration’s approach.

Tesla operates a major manufacturing facility near Berlin, while Musk’s SpaceX has secured launch contracts from the European Commission. These global interests stand in sharp contrast to Navarro’s “America makes stuff again” economic nationalism, creating an increasingly untenable tension within the administration.

Even before his direct attack on Navarro, Musk had been subtly signaling his dissatisfaction with the tariff policy by posting videos of free-market economist Milton Friedman criticizing protectionism. He also acknowledged in late March that even Tesla would not be immune from tariff disruption, despite its domestic manufacturing focus.

As markets continue reeling from Trump’s trade policy and the public feuding between key administration figures intensifies, questions grow about how long these competing visions can coexist within the White House – and whether Musk’s influence might ultimately moderate the administration’s protectionist stance.

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Ava Sinclair

Ava is a financial analyst-turned-writer who translates complex economic trends into digestible insights. Whether it's Wall Street movements, market shifts, or personal finance strategies, Ava makes numbers make sense for everyone.

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