Tesla CEO Elon Musk ignited a blistering tirade against Peter Navarro, a former trade advisor to President Donald Trump, as ‘truly a moron’ and ‘dumber than a sack of bricks’ during an intensifying feud over U.S. import tariffs.
The war of words came after Navarro publicly blasted Musk, referring to him as ‘not a car maker’ but ‘a car assembler’ who relies substantially on imported parts. He told CNBC in an interview, “If you visit his Texas factory… the batteries are from Japan and from China, the electronics are from Taiwan.
Navarro’s comments did not go down well with Musk, who retaliated on X (formerly Twitter), tweeting, “Navarro is actually a moron. What he states here is clearly false,” and sharing a video clip of the adviser making his assertion.
Musk did not let up. In later tweets, he claimed, “Tesla makes the most American-made cars. Navarro is dumber than a sack of bricks.” He even taunted Navarro as ‘Peter Retarrdo’ and ridiculed him for citing a made-up expert, ‘Ron Vara’, an anagram of Navarro’s own name, used in multiple books and a memo.
The billionaire, who is famous for his criticism of protectionism, has earlier expressed support for creating a free-trade zone between Europe and North America, a plan that is against Trump’s tough tariff approach.
Navarro, a vocal China hawk, is the administration’s most militant voice on trade. He recently wrote an opinion piece in the Financial Times stating that tariffs ‘are not a negotiation’ but was later overruled by this by Trump suggesting potential willingness to negotiate.
Interestingly, even though there is the present feud, Musk has previously enjoyed robust support from Trump. The president came to his defense against criticism over Tesla’s cost-cutting initiatives under the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and even featured Tesla cars at the White House.
Navarro, on the other hand, demonstrated his allegiance to Trump by spending four months in prison for contempt of Congress after he refused to testify regarding the January 6 Capitol riot.
The split mirrors wider tensions in Trump’s camp, with major players at odds over economic policy and loyalty politics.