Donald Trump‘s former chief-of-staff has revealed which administration official he would have liked to have fired.
Mick Mulvaney, who served as the president’s right-hand for a time during Trump’s first term, was asked on Tuesday about the ongoing feud between DOGE Chief Elon Musk, and Peter Navarro – the president’s senior counselor for trade and manufacturing.
He claimed to CNBC’s Brian Sullivan that Navarro is notoriously hard to work with and will often claim to speak on behalf of the president without first discussing the matter with other administration officials.
When Sullivan then asked Mulvaney whether he believes Trump should fire the senior counselor – who has championed the president’s tariffs – the former chief of staff replied, ‘I would have fired him a long time [ago].’
‘I would’ve fired him when he got caught making up his academic sources for his sources with Ron Vara imaginary friend,’ he said, referring to a 2019 scandal in which Navarro was found to have quoted a Harvard-educated economist in books and in a White House memo that was actually just Navarro’s alter ego.
The Trump advisor conceded he lied in a statement, but claimed Ron Vara was a ‘whimsical device and pen name’ he used for ‘entertainment value,’ according to the Daily Beast.
Navarro also claimed it was ‘refreshing that somebody finally figured out an inside joke that has been hiding in plain sight for years.’
But in the interview on Tuesday, Mulvaney noted that it was ultimately up to the president to fire Navarro and ‘it’s Donald Trump’s call now.’
Mick Mulvaney, who served as President Donald Trump’s chief-of-staff for a time during his first term, has revealed which administration official he would have liked to have fired
He said Peter Navarro, Trump’s senior counselor for trade and manufacturing, is ‘really tough to work with’ and claims to speak on behalf of the president when he does not
Still, he said, ‘I think folks watching this show are caring more about what is the policy of the White House, what is the policy on tariffs, what does the future hold on this – and Peter Navarro is not a reliable source for information about that.’
He explained that the senior counselor ‘is really tough to work with. There’s no question about that.
‘One of the things that makes him so difficult to work [with] is that he pretends to speak for the president when he does not, alright?’ Mulvaney told Sullivan.
‘Peter was notorious back in Trump 1.0 to walk out of a meeting when everybody would sort of assume we’ve got sort of a consensus about something and he would go on TV and say the exact opposite. That has a tremendous demoralizing effect on the White House and it does tend to mislead markets,’ he claimed.
‘For example, when people think that Peter Navarro is – when he says, “We all know in the White House,” that’s not the White House speaking – that’s Peter Navarro.’
The economic advisor is now facing backlash for defending Trump’s worldwide tariffs as the global markets continue to plummet.
On Friday, he took to insist the tariffs will eventually pay off – leading Musk, who personally lost billions of dollars, to mock Navarro.
Mulvaney noted that it is ultimately up to Trump to decide whether to fire Navarro
Navarro (right) has been a staunch advocate of the tariffs and was said to be in Trump’s ear as he hammered out the details of the new policy
The Tesla CEO responded to a post that noted Navarro has a PhD in economics from Harvard, to which he said: ‘A PhD in Econ from Harvard is a bad thing, not a good thing.
‘Results in the ego/brains>>1 problem.’
After a user responded to say that Navarro was ‘correct’, Musk remarked: ‘He ain’t built s***.’
He continued his attacks on Navarro late into the evening, including responding ‘yup’ at 2am to a meme reading: ‘In every disaster throughout American history, there always seems to be a man from Harvard in the middle of it.’
On Monday, Navarro hit back – calling Musk a ‘car salesman’ who is criticizing the new tariffs because they impact his business.
‘He’s got X. He’s got a big microphone. We don’t mind him saying whatever he wants, but the American people need to understand that we know what this is all about,’ Navarro said dismissively in an interview with Sunday Morning Futures on Fox.
‘Elon, when he’s in his DOGE lane, is great. But we understand what is going on here. Elon sells cars.’
Elon Musk has engaged in a war of words with Peter Navarro over Trump’s tariffs
Musk mocked Navarro’s education and said the Trump ally ‘ain’t built s***’
Musk has since derided Navarro as a ‘moron,’ writing on X that he is ‘dumber than a sack of bricks.
‘What he says here is demonstrably false,’ the SpaceX founder said, sharing a 2023 Cars.com study that showed Tesla as having four of the top 10 most American-made cars followed by the Honda Passport, the Volkswagen ID.4, and the Honda Odyssey.
The study shows the ‘Big Three’ car companies Ford, GM, and Stellantis lower on the list because of the parts imported from foreign countries.
The 2024 Cars.com ranking, however, is slightly less favorable to Tesla.
It shows Tesla’s Model Y is in the number one slot, but the Honda Passport is at number two, the Volkswagen ID.4 at number three, and the Tesla Model S in number four. The Honda Odyssey rounds out the top five.
As the situation escalated on Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was forced to respond.
‘Boys will be boys,’ she said at her Tuesday press briefing.
‘We will let their public sparring continue,’ Leavitt said of their bickering.
‘And you guys should all be very grateful that we have the most transparent administration in history.
‘And I think it also speaks to the president’s willingness to hear from all sides that he has people at the highest levels of this government, in 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 interest of the American public.’
