Trump's tariff adviser denies conflict with billionaire Elon Musk
Apr 14, 2025
Washington [US], April 14: US President Donald Trump's trade adviser Peter Navarro has denied any hostility to billionaire Elon Musk.
Politico reported on April 13 that Mr. Navarro has denied any hostility to Elon Musk, after the American billionaire criticized his remarks last week.
"My relationship with Mr. Musk is great. Everything is fine with Mr. Musk," he said in an interview with NBC on April 13. Mr. Navarro added that being called "stupid" by Mr. Musk on social networks is not too influential, saying that he has been called worse than that.
Navarro's remarks came after billionaire Musk sharply criticized the White House adviser on social media X.
In an interview on CNBC last week, Navarro criticized Musk's electric car company Tesla, which is still dependent on foreign supply chains and wants to shift production to the United States
"The White House (and the American people) understand that Mr. Musk is an automaker. But he's not a manufacturer, he's a car assembler," Navarro said. He cited that at Tesla factories in the US, some parts on the car are imported from other countries.
Soon after, Mr. Musk posted on social media rebutting: "Mr. Navarro is really a fool. What he said was false. By any definition, Tesla is the largest integrated car manufacturer in the U.S. with the highest localization rate."
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper
