Elon Musk Escalates Rift With Top Trump Official: 'Dumber Than a Sack of Bricks'

Elon Musk escalated his feud with President Donald Trump adviser Peter Navarro over tariff policies, calling him "truly a moron" after Navarro accused him of protecting his interests when discussing the matter.

Musk made the comment on Tuesday responding to a publication on his social media platform, X, that showed an interview Navarro gave to CNBC. In it, the adviser said "we all understand in the White House, and the American people understand, that Elon is a car manufacturer. But he's not a car manufacturer, he's a car assembler.

"If you go to his Texas plant, a good part of the engines that he gets, which in the EV case are the batteries, come from Japan and come from China. The electronics come from Taiwan. what we want, and 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 added.

Musk, on his end, said that "Navarro is truly a moron" and that "what he says is demonstrably false." "Tesla has the most American-made cars. 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 US content. Navarro should ask the fake expert he invented, Ron Vara," Musk added in subsequent publications.

Musk said during the weekend that he hoped Europe and the U.S. would agree to a "zero tariff situation, effectively creating a free trade zone." Moreover, a report by the Washington Post on Tuesday said that Musk personally appealed to Trump to reverse tariffs.

Citing two people familiar with the matter, the outlet highlighted that any efforts have not appeared to be successful, as Trump doubled down on the decision on tariffs, even threatening to increase levies on China.

China, on its end, is vowing to "fight to the end" against the tariffs, with analysts warning that Beijing is not set to cave to the threats and is willing to engage as the deadline for the levies to come into effect loom large.

Ryan Hass, a senior fellow at Brookings, a Washington-based think tank, wrote on X that "there's debate about whether the world is entering a period of blocs or a transition to an era of globalization minus the U.S.," claiming that "Beijing seems to prefer the latter scenario."

"China's leaders will not countenance being seen as passive in response to the U.S.," Hass added.