TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Elon Musk once again took a jab at President Donald Trump’s senior trade advisor, Peter Navarro, on Tuesday, April 8, 2025. The Tesla CEO referred to Navarro as a “moron” on social media while further distancing himself from the White House’s tariff policy.
In a CNBC interview aired Monday, President Trump’s senior trade advisor Peter Navarro criticized Elon Musk by calling him a “car assembler” rather than a true manufacturer, claiming Tesla depends heavily on cheap imported parts.
Navarro suggested that Tesla’s assembly-focused model clashes with Trump’s protectionist trade stance.
He pointed out that at Musk’s Tesla plant in Texas, parts of the engines—particularly for electric vehicles—include batteries sourced from Japan and China, while other electronics come from Taiwan.
“The difference is, in our thinking and Elon’s on this, is that we want the tires made in Akron. We want the transmissions made in Indianapolis. We want the engines made in Flint and Saginaw. And we want the cars manufactured here,” Navarro said.
He further argued that sourcing car parts from overseas is “bad for our economics” and “bad for our national security.”
“We want them to come here and with Elon, it's fine. He's a car man. He's a car person. That's what he does. And he wants the cheap foreign parts. And we understand that, but we want 'em home. And everything’s good with Elon," he added.
Responding to a post on X featuring Navarro's interview, Musk called him "truly a moron."
"What he said here is proven wrong," Musk said in the X post, quoted from CNN. The statement was also made before referring to Navarro as "Peter Retarrdo" in another insulting comment.
Musk claimed that Tesla produces the most American-made cars. In a series of other X posts, Musk added that "Navarro is dumber than a sack of bricks."
“By any definition whatsoever, Tesla is the most vertically integrated auto manufacturer in America with the highest percentage of U.S. content. Navarro should ask the fake expert he invented, Ron Vara,” Musk added.
Tesla has dominated Cars.com's American Made Index since 2021, based on criteria including assembly location, component origin, engine origin, transmission origin, and U.S. manufacturing workforce.
However, Tesla is not immune to tariffs, a fact acknowledged by Musk. “The tariff impact on Tesla is still significant,” Musk wrote on X last month.
Musk’s Tuesday remarks come after he posted, and then deleted, a comment saying Navarro's Harvard doctorate was "a bad thing," and that he hadn't "built anything."
Navarro dismissed concerns about a clash with Musk the previous Monday. “Everything is good with Elon, no problem.” he said in an interview with CNBC.
Musk also disagreed with Trump on tariffs. He posted a video on free trade and said at an event in Italy that he believed there should be no tariffs between the U.S. and Europe.
The Washington Post reported last Monday that Musk also made a "direct plea" to Trump.
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