'Boys will be boys': White House plays down Elon Musk-Peter Navarro war of words

Tesla CEO Elon Musk and US President Donald Trump's trade advisor Peter Navarro are embroiled in what can only be described as a drama class-worthy exchange on X. Interestingly, the White House seems to agree and has rubbished their amusing spat, saying "boys will be boys".

During a media briefing, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt laughed off the war of words, saying that the Trump administration will let the public sparring continue which actually points to transparency within the government.

"Two individuals who have very different views on trade and tariffs. Boys will be boys. We will let their public sparring continue. And you guys should 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," she said.

She added that Trump has people at the highest levels of the government and 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 best interest of the American public.”

Musk, who leads the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) under Trump 2.0, has been publicly against tariffs and been calling Navarro for his remarks against Tesla.

Tesla has the most American-made cars. Navarro is dumber than a sack of bricks. @IfindRetards @RealPNavarro https://t.co/gECgtZt5Sc Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 8, 2025

A CNBC interview with Navarro, which aired Monday, angered Musk. The White House trade adviser discussed how Tesla’s position as a “car assembler” rather than a car manufacturer could be at odds with Trump’s tariff policies.

“In many cases, if you go to his Texas plant, a good part of the engines that he gets, which in the EV case are the batteries, come from Japan and come from China. The electronics come from Taiwan,” Navarro said.

Musk fired back on X, calling Navarro "dumber than a sack of bricks," "truly a moron," and even mockingly referring to him as "Peter Retarrdo" in multiple posts. Navarro dismissed concerns over a clash with Musk on Monday, saying “everything is good with Elon, no problem.” when speaking to CNBC