Trump tariffs: Bitter feud between Elon Musk and Peter Navarro explained

'Boys will be boys!' This is how White House responded to the feud between two of Donald Trump's top advisers -- Tesla CEO Elon Musk and the US President's senior economic adviser Peter Navarro. This comes a month after Musk had a spat with Secretary of State Marco Rubio for not firing “enough” federal employees from the State Department.

With less than three months into his new administration, it seems all is not well in Trump's inner circle. So what is the reason for this bitter feud between the two Trump advisers? It all began with Trump's announcement about retaliatory tariffs on 'Liberation Day' as he signed an executive order to implement the trade measures suggested by Navarro.

For the unversed, Navarro is an economist and the brain behind Trump's retaliatory tariffs. He has been critical of Musk's push for zero tariffs on Europe, calling him "a car assembler" whose business relies on components imported from abroad. Navarro said instead of importing auto parts, the Trump administration wants tyres made in Ohio, transmissions made in Indiana and engines made in Michigan.

However, Musk defended his brand, claiming Tesla has the most American-made cars and dismissing Navarro's allegations as "demonstrably false". Musk went on to call Navarro a "moron" who is "dumber than a sack of bricks".

Following this, Musk took to X, saying, "PhD in econ from Harvard is a bad thing, not a good thing". It was a reference to Navarro who earned his doctorate in economics from Harvard. When Navarro said the Tesla chief is hoping to get his hands on cheap foreign parts, Musk took a jab at him, telling him to ask "the fake expert he invented, Ron Vara". Musk was hinting at Navarro's pseudonym that was used in several of his books.

With Trump's inner circle fighting with each other, it remains to be seen whether the US president will continue with his sweeping tariffs or take a U-turn, like he usually does.