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Duties, Musk-Navarro clash: Elon’s brother also attacks Trump adviser

Kimbal Musk intervenes on X against Peter Navarro, accusing him of lying about the fictitious identity of Ron Vara. The case shakes the White House, which tries to play down the clash with Elon Musk

The tension between Elon Musk and Peter Navarro is flaring up and also involves Kimbal Musk, younger brother of the Tesla founder. In a post on X, the hospitality entrepreneur attacked Navarro, current White House Trade Advisor and a leading figure in the Trump administration’s protectionist line.

‘Mr President, if Peter Navarro lied to you about Ron Vara, what else has he lied to you about? Put America first and fire him,’ wrote Kimbal Musk.

The reference is to the figure of Ron Vara, who was presented in Navarro’s books as a pro-protectionist economics expert, but turned out to actually be a made-up character, whose name is an anagram of Navarro’s surname. The discovery emerged thanks to MSNBC journalist Rachel Maddow.

Elon Musk calls him a ‘moron’, Navarro accuses him of not making cars
Kimbal’s attack comes after Elon Musk called Navarro ‘a real jerk’, joking about the Ron Vara affair and challenging him to seek comment from the very ‘fake expert’ he created.

The squabble arose from a statement by Navarro, who accused Musk of not being a real car manufacturer, but a ‘car assembler’, pointing out that Tesla components come from Japan, China and Taiwan.

White House downplays: ‘Boys will be boys’

Faced with the escalation, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt tried to downplay the confrontation. ‘These are obviously two individuals who have very different views on trade and tariffs. Boys will be boys and we will let their public discussion continue,’ she said.

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