Musk appealed to Trump to cancel the massive new tariffs, but was unsuccessful, — WP.
On Monday, Trump threatened to impose new tariffs of 50% on imports from China. Meanwhile, Musk posted a video on X in which the late conservative economist Milton Friedman talks about the benefits of international trade cooperation.
Musk criticized an administration official who played a key role in developing plans to impose tariffs — White House trade adviser Peter Navarro — questioning his qualifications:
"A PhD in economics from Harvard is bad, not good."
Musk's rift with Trump over a key administration priority was the most high-profile example of disagreements between the president and one of his key advisers, who invested nearly $290 million in supporting Trump and other Republicans in last year's election.
