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Elon Musk has castigated Donald Trump’s trade war architect in the most public display to date of a potential flaw between the American president and the richest man in the world.
In an extraordinary bordered Tuesday morning, Musk, a long -standing critic of the prices, called Tsar Tsar Peter Navarro a “moron” and “dumber that a brick bag”, after the economist rejected Tesla’s boss in a television interview as a car -style “and accused him of” protecting his own interests “.
The quarrel occurs after days when Musk, who spent more than a quarter of a billion dollars on the Trump campaign and who heads the so-called Ministry of Government Effectiveness (DOGE), has repeatedly alluded to its dissatisfaction with the White House trade policy.
Appearing practically during a conference organized by the right-of-right minister of Italy Matteo Salvini during the weekend, Musk said that he hoped that the United States and Europe would reach “a zero-tail situation, effectively creating a free trade area”.
Musk also shared a video On its social media platform X in which the lawyer for the free market Milton Friedman praised the virtues of a globalized economy by reflecting on the different parties and the workforce that is necessary to make a single pencil.
Musk’s brother Kimbal, who is one of the boards of directors of Tesla and Spacex on Musk and SpaceX, on Monday, called Trump’s prices “structural and permanent tax on the American consumer”, in an article on X. “A tax on consumption also means less consumption. Which means fewer jobs, ”added Kimbal.
Musk’s political influence was under pressure before Trump unveiled his radical prices last week, after the billionaire’s favorite candidate in a Supreme Court of Wisconsin has heavily lost in a competition that has become a referendum on DOGE cost reduction tactics.
The White House also confirmed last week that the role of the government of Musk, which was originally intended to continue in 2026, could end in a few weeks, once its work with Doge is finished. Trump said the billionaire was at some point “was going to return to his full -time business.”
In the meantime, some of Musk’s companies seem to have suffered from his association with the president. Tesla’s actions have plunged more than 35% since the start of the year in the midst of concerns about a growing trade war and anger at consumer business opposed to the aggressive Musk’s aggressive costs in government.
In an unsigned letter addressed to the US trade representative Jamieson Greer last month, Tesla warned that a trade war could target it for reprisal prices and increase the cost of manufacturing vehicles in America.
The second market of the electric car company is China, where Tesla also has a large factory. Musk opened a $ 200 million battery factory in the country just a few weeks ago.
Starlink, the SpaceX satellite internet service, has also lost contracts with various governments while tensions between the United States and its allies will intensify.
Musk did not immediately respond to requests for comments. Navarro did not immediately answer a question about Musk’s interventions in American trade policy.
The White House directed the Financial Times to a declaration by the press secretary Karoline Leavitt who said: “Anyway. We are the most transparent administration in history, expressing our disagreements in public. ”
Additional Demetri Sevastopulo reports in Washington
