Musk slams key Trump adviser Navarro, calls for more free trade
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Elon Musk and Peter Navarro in the Oval Office. Photo: ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Images)
Elon Musk blasted top Trump administration trade adviser Peter Navarro and told an Italian political gathering he wants more free trade, not less.
Why it matters: The two-day rout in the stock market this week, after Trump announced sweeping new tariffs backed by Navarro, cost Musk nearly $18 billion just on his Tesla stock.
- By wading into the tariff debate, a subject he's mostly stayed away from, Musk could inject more uncertainty into U.S. efforts to re-order the global economy.
Catch up quick: Friday morning, a user on Musk's social media platform X defended the controversial Navarro as a skilled voice on tariffs, citing his Ph.D. in economics from Harvard.
- Musk, in a reply in the early hours of Saturday morning, disagreed.
- "A PhD in Econ from Harvard is a bad thing, not a good thing," he wrote, suggesting it resulted in having more ego than brains.
- Another user stepped in to defend Navarro as right on trade, to which Musk replied "He ain't built s--t."
The intrigue: Later Saturday, Musk appeared by video at an event for an Italian political party, where he reportedly called for trade barriers to fall.
- "Both Europe and the United States should move, ideally, in my view, to a zero-tariff situation, effectively creating a free trade zone between Europe and North America," Musk said at the event, per Bloomberg.
For the record: The White House did not immediately reply to requests for comment on Musk's posts.
- Besides Navarro, other top Trump officials with Harvard Ph.D.'s in economics include Council of Economic Advisers chair Stephen Miran.
Zoom out: Navarro has been ubiquitous on TV in recent days, defending Trump's tariff program and touting a possible $600 billion in new annual revenue.
- Trump calls the tariffs an "economic revolution" and says big businesses will do well in the end because of pending tax cuts.
Zoom in: Musk, who has wielded significant influence in the Trump administration, may be stepping back in coming months, the president said Thursday.
- The DOGE head recently said most of his work cutting $1 trillion from the deficit could be done soon.
Editor's note: This story has been updated with further comments by Musk.
