Faced with a question about the public rupture between two of President Donald Trump’s top advisers, Karoline Leavitt turned lemons into lemonade.
With the acid-tongued billionaire Elon Musk — the head of Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency — launching public social media attacks on senior trade adviser Peter Navarro, the White House press secretary was questioned about it Tuesday during the daily media briefing.
It could have been a crisis; instead, she used it as an opportunity.
.@PressSec on Karoline Leavitt on public sparring between Elon Musk and Peter Navarro: “These are obviously two individuals who have very different views on trade and on tariffs. Boys will be boys and we will let their public sparring continue.” pic.twitter.com/RSo19uwxAm
— CSPAN (@cspan) April 8, 2025
Musk and Navarro are at odds over the Trump administration’s use of tariffs as a tool of international negotiation, with Navarro as one of Trump’s most visible spokesmen for the policies that have sparked business upheaval around the globe.
As Navarro sells the idea, tariffs are a way to restore lost manufacturing jobs to American soil. Musk, a philosophical free-trader and an international businessman with global interests, said Saturday he would like to see “zero tariffs” between the United States and the countries of Europe, as Fox News reported.
On Sunday, as the New York Post reported, Navarro said Musk’s opposition to tariffs was just “protecting his own interests.” On Monday, in a CNBC interview, Navarro made claims — largely incorrect, as it turned out — about how much Musk’s electric car company Tesla depends on parts produced outside North America.
Musk hit back, using his social media platform X to brand Navarro as “truly a moron” and “dumber than a sack of bricks.”
Navarro is truly a moron. What he says here is demonstrably false.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 8, 2025
Tesla has the most American-made cars. Navarro is dumber than a sack of bricks. @IfindRetards @RealPNavarro https://t.co/gECgtZt5Sc
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 8, 2025
Americans have had a decade or so to get used to that kind of brutally frank language coming from Donald Trump when it comes to Democrats, Republicans he’s feuding with, or his critics in the liberal media.
But it’s more than a little unusual to hear it coming from one of the most influential men in the White House, publicly targeting another of the most influential men in the White House. (Navarro, a key figure in Trump’s first term, went to prison for defying Nancy Pelosi’s kangaroo court committee aimed at hanging Trump for the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol incursion.)
And there’s no doubt the whole situation left Leavitt in a tough position — knowing full well she would be asked about it at some point.
Wisely, she chose not to take a side, nor commit her boss to one.
“These are obviously two individuals who have very different views on trade and on tariffs,” Leavitt said during her White House press briefing. “Boys will be boys, and we will let their public sparring continue.”
And then she turned what could have been a “gotcha” moment into a pitch for Trump’s commitment to open dialogue.
Do you think Elon Musk went too far?
“You guys should all be grateful that we have the most transparent administration in history,” she told the reporters.
“I think it also speaks to the president’s willingness to hear from all sides. He has people at the highest levels of this government and this White House who have very diverse opinions on very diverse issues.
“But the president takes all opinions in mind, and then he makes the best decision based on the best interests of the American public.”
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