Elon Musk took a rare swipe at one of President Donald Trump‘s closest advisors amid the fallout from the White House‘s tariff plan.
The world’s richest man waded into controversy on Friday when markets closed and White House advisor Peter Navarro appeared on CNN to try and calm concerns over the damage the tariffs had caused in the last two days.
Musk personally lost billions in the market’s reaction to the tariffs, with the US stock market experiencing its worst trading week in five years.
And after Navarro insisted that the tariffs would eventually pay off, Musk took to his X platform to mock the economic advisor.
Musk responded to a post that noted Navarro has a PhD in economics from Harvard, to which he said: ‘A PhD in Econ from Harvard is a bad thing, not a good thing.
‘Results in the ego/brains>>1 problem.’
After a user responded to say that Navarro was ‘correct’, Musk remarked: ‘He ain’t built s***.’
Musk’s brazen break with Trump’s inner circle comes days after it was revealed that he would be stepping down from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), leaving the Trump White House early in a surprise move.
White House economic advisor Peter Navarro appeared on CNN on Friday evening to calm the chaos caused by Trump’s tariffs, but his remarks were quickly criticized by Elon Musk
Musk personally lost billions in the market’s reaction to the tariffs this week, and after Navarro insisted that the tariffs would eventually pay off, Musk took to his X platform to mock the economic advisor
Musk mocked Navarro’s education and said the Trump ally ‘ain’t built s***’
Musk broke ranks on Friday after Navarro appeared on CNN to defend Trump’s trade ethos and argued for patience.
He told anchor Phil Mattingly: ‘Here’s the analytical issue we’re trying to do under the principle that the president wants to charge those countries what they charge us.
‘As you pointed out, Vietnam has an applied tariff rate that’s much larger than ours, but doesn’t come near the tariff we charge them, so the question is how do you value the following, Phil?
‘So let me count the ways. You’ve got to value currency manipulation, you’ve got to value the VAT tax distortions, dumping, export subsidies, technical barriers of trade, agricultural barriers to trade, quotas, bans, counterfeiting, intellectual property theft, and all of that.
‘So, here’s the punchline. If you look at the trade deficit… should the U.S. have chronic and sustained deficits? They should not.’
Musk continued his attacks on Navarro late into the evening, including responding ‘yup’ at 2am to a meme reading: ‘In every disaster throughout American history, there always seems to be a man from Harvard in the middle of it.’
Musk continued his attacks on Navarro late into the evening, including responding ‘yup’ at 2am to a meme reading: ‘In every disaster throughout American history, there always seems to be a man from Harvard in the middle of it’
Social media was left divided by Musk’s break from Trump, with some questioning if it was a sign the billionaire was falling out with the president.
‘I’m confused… aren’t you guys on the same team?’ one X user responded.
Another questioned: ‘Who are you trying to please by publicly dissing Navarro? China? You can’t tell him privately? I thought you are part of the team.’
It comes as demonstrators gathered at the National Mall in Washington DC to protest against Musk and the cuts he made while at DOGE.
The protests forced First Lady Melania Trump to postpone the White House spring garden tours, because they would clash with the demonstrations.
It comes as demonstrators gathered at the National Mall in Washington, DC, to protest against Musk and the cuts he made while at DOGE
Trump said as he announced his tariffs this week that nations around the world will be hit with at least a 10 percent tariff on their imports with some reaching up to a whopping 50 percent.
The tariffs are being levied based on ‘barriers to entry.’ That means the European Union will be hit with 20 percent tariffs because it charges a 39 percent tariff on America.
The U.K., on the other hand, got off relatively easy. Since it only charges the U.S. a 10 percent tariff, it will pay 10 percent in return.
China will pay a 34 percent tariff, with the White House calculating that the U.S. pays 67 percent when currency manipulation is factored in.
‘My fellow Americans, this is liberation day, we’ve been waiting for a long time,’ Trump proclaimed. ‘In a few moments, I will sign a historic executive order instituting reciprocal tariffs on countries throughout the world.’
As Trump spoke the stock market tanked – with Dow futures dropping more than 250 points, the S&P 500 falling 100 points and Nasdaq futures dripping more than 400 points.
