‘It’s fine, been called worse’: Trump aide Peter Navarro reacts to Elon Musk calling him ‘moron’

Donald Trump's trade adviser Peter Navarro has brushed off the insults from Elon Musk after a public spat over global tariffs, denying any dent in their relationship as the two officials in the US government.

“It's not an issue. Everything is fine, Elon Musk and I are great,” said Peter Navarro.

Elon Musk, the billionaire Tesla CEO and DOGE baron – appointed to slash federal jobs and downsize the workforce – earlier this month called Peter Navarro a “moron” after the trade adviser dismissed his push for “zero tariffs” between the US and Europe.

Navarro, too, had called Elon Musk a “car assembler” reliant on imported auto parts. Despite being pressed on the insults by the media, Peter Navarro said did not divulge much except that it's not a problem for him.

“Even though he called you a 'moron' and ‘dumber than a sack of bricks?’” the media asked.

“I have been called worse.”

“Everything's fine with Elon. And look, Elon is doing a very good job with his team with waste, fraud and abuse. That's a tremendous contribution to America, and no man doing that kind of thing should be subject to having his cars firebombed by crazies,” he said, referring to the vandalism against Tesla infrastructures and offices in response to Musk's right-wing activism.

Elon Musk called Peter Navarro as “dumber than a sack of bricks” and a “moron” — adding that the previous term was in fact an insult to bricks — after Trump's trade aide claimed in an interview that a large percentage of Tesla and Cybertrucks are assembled in America from parts that are manufactured in other countries.

Trump appointed Musk, the world's richest person, to slash US government spending and downsize the federal workforce. There has been growing unease across the country over Musk's blunt approach to mass layoffs from the government workforce. Nearly 200,000 employees have been fired, earmarked for termination or have accepted buyouts.

White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt this week downplayed the public clash as a difference of opinion on tariffs, saying “Boys will be boys.”

(With agency inputs)