Elon Musk Calls Trump’s Adviser ‘Moron’ in Escalating Feud — and White House Says ‘Boys Will Be Boys’ (2025)

A public feud is playing out between Elon Musk and a top economic adviser to President Donald Trump, but the White House is brushing off the situation as a case of boys will be boys.

Musk, 53, and economist Peter Navarro, who serves as Trump’s senior counselor for trade and manufacturing, have been at odds over the sweeping tariffs the president imposed last week. Navarro, 75, is one of the supporters of the policy.

“No, look, these are obviously two individuals who have very different views on trade and on tariffs. Boys will be boys, and we will let their public sparring continue,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Tuesday, April 8. "And you guys should all be very grateful that we have the most transparent administration in history."

On Saturday, Musk said he hoped the U.S. and Europe could create a “very close, stronger partnership” and agree to a “zero-tariff” policy soon during an appearance via live stream at a conference in Italy, reports ABC News. Countries in the European Union will face a general tariff of 20% under Trump’s plans.

“And also more freedom of people to move between Europe and North America if they wish, if they wish to work in Europe or wish to work in America, they should be allowed to do so, in my view,” Musk continued. “So that has certainly been my advice to the president.”

That same day, Musk responded to a video of Navarro explaining the tariff policies on CNN. “A PhD in Econ from Harvard is a bad thing, not a good thing. Results in the ego/brains>>1 problem,” he wrote on X.

“Elon, when he's in his DOGE lane, is great, but we understand what's going on here. Elon sells cars. He's simply protecting his own interests,” Navarro responded on Fox News Channel’s Sunday Morning Futures, later insisting there was “no rift here.”

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During a CNBC interview on Monday, April 7, Navarro described Musk as a “car assembler,” adding, “That's what he does, and he wants the cheap foreign parts.”

“Navarro is truly a moron,” Musk wrote on X in response to the CNBC interview on Tuesday, later calling Navarro “dumber than a sack of bricks.”

Leavitt, 27, told reporters the situation “speaks to the president's willingness to hear from all sides that he has people at the highest levels of this government, in this White House, who have very diverse opinions, on very diverse issues.”

“But the president takes all opinions in mind, and then he makes the best decision based on the best interests of the American public,” Leavitt said.