Peter Navarro Skirts Around Beef With Elon Musk Amid Public Spat Over Trump’s Tariffs

White House trade adviser Peter Navarro says he and Elon Musk don’t have an “issue” after the tech billionaire slammed him as a “moron” following a public spat over President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs.

While appearing on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” on Sunday, host Kristen Welker asked Navarro if Musk, who has been “publicly advocating for a zero-tariff trade deals,” had “won” their supposed rift considering Trump’s move to temporarily reduce tariffs on all countries, with the exception of China, after he insisted the sky-high tariffs were here to stay.

“So first of all, Elon and I are great. It’s not an issue,” Navarro began before Welker countered, “Even though he called you a “moron” and “dumber than a sack of bricks?”

“I’ve been called worse. Everything’s fine with Elon,” Navarro continued. “And look, Elon is doing a very good job with his team with waste, fraud and abuse.”

Navarro went on to claim that “no man” who has made “a tremendous contribution to America” like Musk “should be subject to having his cars firebombed by crazies” or “have to go to jail like I did.”

Navarro was referring to the rising reports of vandalism at Tesla dealerships amid protests against the automotive company helmed by Musk.

Welker then asked Navarro if Musk is “disagreeing with the president’s policies.”

“So, let’s talk about the zero-tariff issue, OK? Because this is really kind of interesting. We had Vietnam come to us first, and then the E.U. Zero tariffs get the American people virtually nowhere. Particularly with a country like Vietnam, which sells us $15 for every $1 we sell,” he said.

Navarro added: “It doesn’t work. The big problem we have are the non-tariff barriers, the currency manipulation, the dumping, the VAT taxes, all of that stuff that, that are – that we have no defense against other than tariffs right now.”

Navarro’s comments come after Musk took a nasty jab at the pro-tariff politician for claiming the Tesla CEO is “not a car manufacturer” but “a car assembler,” while criticizing the company for relying heavily on foreign supply chains for items such as batteries.

“Navarro is truly a moron. What he says here is demonstrably false,” Musk wrote on X. “Tesla has the most American-made cars. Navarro is dumber than a sack of bricks.”

Watch Navarro’s appearance on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” here.