Elon Musk called Peter Navarro, a prominent advisor to Donald Trump, an idiot after Navarro criticized Musk’s stance on tariffs and trade. Musk’s response came on the social network X, where he refuted Navarro’s claims as a blatant lie. Navarro, speaking on CNBC, had characterized Musk as merely an assembler of cars seeking cheap foreign parts, contrasting this with the desire to produce those parts domestically. This prompted Musk’s strong reaction, defending his position on free trade. The exchange followed reports of Musk previously requesting Trump to withdraw tariffs, as well as Musk sharing a video supporting free trade, which was interpreted as criticism of Trump’s tariff policies.