The battle for influence in Donald Trump’s inner circle has erupted into a full-blown civil war and Elon Musk just threw gasoline on the fire with an insult that’s lighting up the internet.
In a series of explosive posts, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO torched former Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro, branding him “Peter Retarrdo” in a brutal jab that’s reignited their ongoing feud. Musk didn’t stop there he also called Navarro “dumber than a sack of bricks” and “truly a moron,” tearing into the economist’s credibility and past claims about Tesla’s supply chain.
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The spat boiled over after Trump reportedly backed Musk and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in a surprising pivot toward negotiating with foreign leaders on tariffs a move Navarro fiercely opposed. Sources say Navarro and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick had been pressuring Trump to double down on hardline tariffs, but Musk’s lobbying efforts appear to have won out.
Navarro, who once dismissed Musk as merely a “car assembler” chasing cheap parts, took heat after Trump publicly signaled a change in direction. Musk clapped back online, reminding his 170 million followers that Tesla builds the most American-made cars and is the most vertically integrated auto company in the U.S. He even revived Navarro’s infamous “Ron Vara” gaffe a fictional trade expert Navarro invented for his book Death by China.
“Navarro should ask the fake expert he invented, Ron Vara,” Musk wrote, referencing the anagram-based persona Navarro once described as a “whimsical device.”
As tensions soared, the White House scrambled to contain the fallout. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt brushed off Musk’s insults, saying, “Whatever. We are the most transparent administration in history, expressing our disagreements in public.”
Meanwhile, the administration’s messaging turned chaotic. A White House tweet promoting Navarro’s op-ed declaring “This is not a negotiation” was mysteriously deleted. On the same day, The Wall Street Journal published a blistering critique of Commerce Secretary Lutnick raising eyebrows about who in Trump’s circle is winning and who’s being left behind.
The White House appears to have deleted this post promoting Peter Navarro’s op-ed saying, “This is not a negotiation.” pic.twitter.com/S5R9SZSsFI
— Aaron Blake (@AaronBlake) April 7, 2025
Musk’s barrage comes amid a wider meltdown in financial markets, which have reacted sharply to the uncertainty surrounding Trump’s tariff strategy. But with world leaders from countries like Israel, South Korea, and Japan now reportedly lining up to negotiate, it looks like Musk may have succeeded at least for now in steering policy away from Navarro’s hardline playbook.
And just like that, another Washington feud is playing out not behind closed doors, but on full display across social media with Musk leading the charge, emoji-free but armed with fire.
