Navarro approach rubs GOP the wrong way amid trade war

Peter Navarro’s bullish personality is rubbing some Trump allies the wrong way as he takes center stage in the battle over tariffs and butts heads with other top officials in the White House.

Some Republican lawmakers say Navarro’s temperament makes them nervous about where the trade war could take the U.S. economy.

“He’s so crass. His personality is so abrupt and so certain,” Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) said. “If he was a doctor, you’d say he has a bad bedside manner.”

Notably, when President Trump on Wednesday imposed a 125 percent tariff on China and implemented a 90-day pause on other trading partners, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt went to speak to reporters about details of the pause — without Navarro.

Divisions within Trump World had already exploded into public view earlier this week when Elon Musk called the Trump trade adviser “dumber than a sack of bricks.”

It’s not the first time Navarro, who was convicted and spent time in prison for contempt charges related to a Trump investigation, has had his issues within the White House. During Trump’s first term, he similarly clashed with Trump aides but managed to outlast it for the full term and return for the second.

Adding to his problems, Navarro isn’t known for having deep relationships in Washington. Multiple Senate Republicans noted they don’t believe Navarro has much of a rapport with many — if any — members in their conference despite his high-level roles over the years.

“I don’t know many people [who] have a relationship with him,” one Senate Republican told The Hill, adding that Navarro gives off a whiff of arrogance that does him no favors with lawmakers and that he is part of a group that does not think about “factors beyond the transaction that are important considerations.”

“There are things beyond economic considerations that drive some of our business relationships with these countries, so I think there’s a general frustration,” the senator said. “It’s like, ‘Oh, you silly boys. We know how to do this. Finally you’ve got adults in the White House. Just watch our magic.’” 

Former White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney said this week that he would have fired Navarro during Trump’s first term, pointing to Navarro’s 2019 scandal where he faked being one of his own academic sources, “Ron Vara.”

But Navarro’s hawkish traits and rigid attitude toward tariffs are what make him essential to Trump’s plans, a source close to the White House said.

“You still need the boogeyman and the threat of big trade barriers, because it’s the only way you keep the system honest. Even if they think, inevitably, they’re going to negotiate, having him standing in the background in all of this only strengthens Trump’s negotiating,” the source said of Navarro.

“He’s indispensably tied to Trump,” the source said, adding that it’s notable there’s no chatter that Navarro is criticizing the president for making deals with trading partners. “He is not being disloyal, he’s not questioning the president. He’s executing, based on collaboration and discussion, the president’s plan.”

Another source close to Trump World also said Navarro has perfected the role of “bad cop” while Trump can be “good cop.”

But that “bad cop” persona continues to grate with many on the right.

“He’s a walking, talking economic fallacy,” said Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who has been among the foremost detractors of the Trump tariff policy.

At the center of the latest issues some lawmakers have had with Navarro is that he has maintained tariffs are “not a negotiation” while the White House has said that nearly 75 countries have already reached out to Trump to begin dealmaking. 

Bessent cited the dozens of countries looking to negotiate as the reason why Trump decided to implement a 90-day pause that would drop tariffs to 10 percent on trading partners, adding that Trump created “negotiating leverage” with his plan.

Bessent’s rhetoric on tariffs is a far cry from Navarro’s, who was notably quiet Wednesday while the pause was implemented. 

“He can advise the president on all of this stuff, and the president probably agrees with him on all of this stuff, philosophically,” Cramer said. “But what the president has that Peter Navarro doesn’t have is, he has nuance. [Trump] has an understanding of the moment and the room.”

“I suspect Peter Navarro is spitting mad that the president announced this pause,” he continued. 

The North Dakota Republican added that Trump seemingly took much of Navarro’s advice throughout recent weeks — except for Wednesday.

GOP lawmakers have also made it known that they widely prefer Bessent’s presence at the center of negotiations. The Treasury secretary was slated to brief a group of House Republicans on Wednesday and has huddled with Senate Republicans in recent weeks, mostly on reconciliation. He also had lunch with Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) on Tuesday.

When a second Republican senator was asked about the conference’s feelings about the trade adviser, they offered an initial laugh before comparing the yin and yang between him and Bessent.

“I would say people agree much more with Bessent than they do Navarro. Much more. Go negotiate, go get us the best deal, go open new markets. That is the overwhelming opinion,” the second Senate GOP member said.

The White House defended Navarro as a critical part of the president’s team.

“Peter Navarro, the senior counselor for trade and manufacturing, correctly identified the threat of China’s mercantilist policies against the United States over 20 years ago, a theory considered outlandish until President Trump cemented it as the mainstream political consensus. Peter Navarro’s brilliant insights make him a critical asset for President Trump’s historic effort to finally address America’s national emergency of chronic trade deficits and vision to restore American Greatness,” spokesman Kush Desai told the Hill.

The administration also previously brushed off concerns with Navarro.

Musk publicly slammed Navarro on Tuesday, calling him a “moron” after Navarro claimed in an interview that Tesla is not a “car manufacturer” but rather a “car assembler” that puts together parts from other countries. While Tesla produces all of its North American vehicles in the U.S. at factories in California and Texas, some of its parts do not come from the U.S.

The White House dismissed the fight over tariffs as an example of transparency from the Trump administration and said, “boys will be boys.”

A Commerce Department official from Trump’s first term said the “fight between hawks” and “the business in China champions” is not new and was a big part of the first White House. Musk, though, adds a new element because of his direct dealings.

“Musk has been a champion for restraint against China. He cares deeply about his business there and the Chinese profits that drive his other space ambitions. A real hot war with China threatens all of that,” the former official said.

While Musk’s role as a top adviser in the White House may be coming to an end soon, Navarro is close to Trump and isn’t expected to exit his orbit.

“Because Peter Navarro is protected by the president, you can't get him fired — yet— so they are attempting to marginalize him,” the former official said. “In Elon's defense, Navarro has made this much easier by saying really outrageous things and is blamed in the White House for coming up with the indefensible 'reciprocal tariff' equation.”

Alexander Bolton contributed.