White House trade advisor Peter Navarro dismissed concerns about a feud between himself and billionaire Elon Musk, claiming the two administration advisors had a “great” relationship.
“First and foremost, Elon and I are great. It’s not a problem,” Navarro said during an appearance on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” on Sunday.
The comments follow Navarro and Musk’s public spat last week, when Navarro claimed in an interview that Musk’s Tesla is more of a “car assembler” than a “car manufacturer” that relies on parts from other countries.
“Everyone in the White House (and the American people) knows Elon Musk is a car manufacturer. But he’s not a car manufacturer; he’s a car assembler,” Navarro explained on CNBC.
“In many cases, if you go to his Texas plant, a large portion of the engines he receives (which in the case of the EV are the batteries) come from Japan and China. “The electronics are from Taiwan.”
The point did not seem to sit well with Musk, who took to X to defend his auto company.
“Navarro is a moron. “What he says here is clearly false,” Musk stated.
“Tesla has the most American-made vehicles. “Navarro is dumber than a sack of bricks,” Musk wrote in a subsequent post.
However, Navarro downplayed the public war of words on Sunday, praising Musk’s contributions to the Trump administration.
“Everything is fine with Elon,” Navarro explained. “Look, Elon is doing a great job with his team in terms of waste, fraud, and abuse. That’s an enormous contribution to America. And no man who does such things should have his cars firebombed by crazies.
The White House has also downplayed their feud, with press secretary Karoline Leavitt arguing that it demonstrates President Donald Trump’s willingness to hear vastly different perspectives at the highest levels.
“These are obviously two people with very different perspectives on trade and tariffs. “Boys will be boys, and we will allow them to spar in public,” she said during a press briefing last week. “You guys should all be very grateful that we have the most transparent administration in history.”