Peter Navarro says there is ‘no rift’ between himself and Musk as two have dueled publicly over Trump’s tariffs

Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro insisted Sunday that there is “no rift” between himself and Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) head Elon Musk despite their public disagreement on tariffs.

Musk has made several negative X posts about Navarro since President Donald Trump unveiled a slate of tariffs on Wednesday, including two attacking Navarro’s Harvard education, Forbes reported. After Navarro suggested Musk’s call for a “zero tariff situation” with Europe was misguided on “Sunday Morning Futures,” host Jackie DeAngelis asked him whether there was an internal “rift” in the Trump administration.

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“[Musk] also took a shot at you personally on X and he’s going against the administration with respect to the tariff policy,” DeAngelis said. “The president has said in the coming months, he may leave the administration. Peter, is there a rift internally?”

“No. I mean, look, Elon, when he’s in his DOGE lane, is great. But we understand what’s going on here. We just have to understand. Elon sells cars. And he’s in Texas assembling cars that have big parts of that car from Mexico, China, the batteries come from Japan or China,” Navarro said. “The electronics come from Taiwan. And he’s simply protecting his own interests as any business person would do. We’re more concerned about Detroit building Cadillacs with American engines. And that’s what this is all about. So it’s fine, there’s no rift here.”

The trade adviser said the Trump administration accepts Musk using his large platform on X to say anything he desires.

“But just the American people need to understand that we understand what that’s all about,” Navarro added. “And it’s fine. It’s fine.”

Musk had responded Saturday to an X clip of Navarro discussing tariffs on CNN by saying, “A PhD in Econ from Harvard is a bad thing, not a good thing.”

He also responded “yup” to a post containing a quote by economist Thomas Sowell, which reads, “In every disaster throughout American history, there always seems to be a man from Harvard in the middle of it.”

Musk also responded to someone defending Navarro on X by saying the trade adviser “ain’t built shit,” Forbes reported, although Musk’s comment appears to be deleted. His companies’ Tesla and SpaceX, have both lost significant value since Trump’s tariff announcement, the outlet reported.

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