Elon Musk has hit out at US President Donald Trump’s tariff tsar, calling him a “moron” who is “dumber than a sack of bricks”.
The billionaire slammed Peter Navarro, Trump’s senior counsellor for trade, after he called Musk merely a “car assembler” rather than a manufacturer.
In a rant on his social media platform X, Musk dismissed Navarro’s accusations that he sought to use "cheap foreign parts" as "demonstrably false," asserting that Tesla "has the most American-made cars."
The dispute underscores growing tensions within The US President’s inner circle, which have intensified following the president's global tariff actions that triggered stock market declines worldwide.
Musk publicly blasted Navarro, calling him 'Peter Retarrdo'
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Musk, who runs the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge), has expressed his opposition to Trump’s trade policy by stating he was hopeful of a US-EU trade agreement.
On the other hand, Navarro - a loyal Trump ally - has been one of the key architects of the global trade war.
Speaking to CNBC, the trade counsellor said: “In many cases, if you go to his [Musk’s] Texas plant, a good part of the engines that he gets – which in the EV case are the batteries – come from Japan and come from China. The electronics come from Taiwan.
“What we want – and the difference is in our thinking and Elon’s on this – is that we want the tyres made in Akron. We want the transmissions made in Indianapolis. We want the engines made in Flint and Saginaw. And we want the cars manufactured here.”
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He added that they wanted to bring manufacturing home for “our national security”.
In response, Musk publicly blasted Navarro, calling him “Peter Retarrdo”.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt then attempted to dismiss the infighting, bizarrely claiming that “boys will be boys”.
Speaking to reporters she said: “Look, these are obviously two individuals who have very different views on trade and on tariffs. Boys will be boys, and we will let their public sparring continue.
“And you guys should all be very grateful that we have the most transparent administration in history.”
The feud erupted after another volatile day on US stock markets, which dropped following Trump’s confirmation of plans to impose 104 per cent tariffs on China, up from the current 54 per cent.
The S&P 500, which had gained more than four per cent, reversed its gains and ended down over two per cent after hopes for a US-China deal were dashed.
Trump seemed to shift his stance on China, having earlier indicated that an agreement between the two nations "will happen."
The recent market turbulence caused by the trade war has intensified pressure on the US President
REUTERSThe recent market turbulence caused by the trade war has intensified pressure on the US President.
During a dinner with fellow Republicans on Tuesday night, Trump claimed that countries were "dying" to strike a deal, saying: "I'm telling you, these countries are calling us up kissing my ass."
He added: "They ripped us off left and right. But now it's our turn to do the ripping. And I do think that the war with the world, which is not a war at all, because they're all coming here. Japan is coming here as we speak."
The European Union has sought to de-escalate tensions, with EU chief Ursula von der Leyen urging against worsening the trade conflict during a call with Chinese Premier Li Qiang.
She emphasised the importance of stability for the global economy and “the need to avoid further escalation,” according to an EU statement.
