Elon Musk vs Peter Navarro: How India became the latest flashpoint in their long-running rivalry | Explained

The long-running animosity between White House trade adviser Peter Navarro and billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk has exploded again, this time over India’s purchase of Russian oil and a fact-checking feature on Musk’s social media platform X. The latest clash started when Navarro falsely claimed India had never imported Russian crude before the Ukraine war and was now “purely” profiteering. Within hours, X users added a Community Note refuting his claims. Navarro’s angry response turned what could have been a minor correction into another chapter of his bitter feud with Musk.

The trigger

On September 6, Navarro posted on X that India “didn’t buy any [Russian oil] before Russia invaded Ukraine” and was now doing so “solely to profiteer.” He also linked India’s tariffs to American job losses. X’s Community Note -- the crowdsourced fact-checking system Musk champions -- quickly appeared under the post, clarifying that India’s imports are for energy security, not profiteering, and highlighting that the US itself continues to buy key Russian goods like uranium and fertilisers.

FACTS: India highest tariffs costs U.S. jobs. India buys Russian oil purely to profit/Revenues feed Russia war machine. Ukrainians/Russians die. U.S. taxpayers shell out more. India can't handle truth/spins @washpo
Leftist American fake news. QED. https://t.co/9UwdodYBEe

— Peter Navarro (@RealPNavarro) September 5, 2025

The note read: “India’s legal, sovereign purchases of Russian oil for energy security do not violate international law” and “The US, while pressuring India, continues to import billions in Russian goods, like uranium, exposing a clear double standard.”

Navarro lashed out, accusing Musk of spreading foreign propaganda. “Wow. @elonmusk is letting propaganda into people’s posts. That crap note below is just that. Crap,” he wrote, later alleging that “Indian special interests” were trying to shape American conversations about trade and foreign policy.

Wow. @elonmusk is letting propaganda into people's posts. That crap note below is just that. Crap. India buys Russia oil solely to profiteer. It didn't buy any before Russia invaded Ukraine. Indian govt spin machine moving high tilt. Stop killing Ukranians. Stop taking… https://t.co/Uj1NMUrVOM

— Peter Navarro (@RealPNavarro) September 6, 2025

Navarro turns to smears while India pushes back

Navarro has repeatedly branded India as “Kremlin’s laundromat,” claiming its oil purchases fund Russia’s war effort while New Delhi also seeks US defence partnerships. Just a week earlier, he complained about India’s “strategic freeloading,” alleging it continues to buy Russian weapons while pressuring American defence companies to set up plants in India.

India’s foreign ministry dismissed Navarro’s remarks as “inaccurate and misleading,” signalling irritation but also caution not to let one combative adviser derail broader ties with Washington.

Musk defends X and Community Notes

Musk, who remains a central figure in Washington despite stepping down as head of the Department of Government Efficiency in May, defended X and its fact-checking system. On September 7 he posted a series of messages about X’s role in fostering open debate and combating misinformation.

“On this platform, the people decide the narrative. You hear all sides of an argument. Community Notes corrects everyone, no exceptions,” Musk stated. He contrasted this user-driven approach with the failures of mainstream media. “As recent events have shown all too clearly, you can’t trust the legacy (fka mainstream) news at all,” Musk wrote. “They lie relentlessly or simply ignore major stories that don’t fit their collectively decided narrative.”

Musk also noted that the data and code for Community Notes are public, arguing this transparency allows for greater accountability than traditional top-down content moderation.

Why Navarro targets Musk over India

Navarro’s hostility toward Musk is partly ideological and partly personal. He has long been Trump’s most aggressive trade hawk, known for blunt attacks such as declaring a “special place in hell” for Canada’s Justin Trudeau. By portraying India as an opportunist, Navarro tries to justify Trump’s steep new tariffs, including the additional 25 per cent duty on Indian goods imposed on August 6.

For Navarro, blaming India for both Ukraine’s prolonged war and American job losses fits neatly into the “America First” narrative. For Musk, whose companies depend on global supply chains, Navarro’s protectionism is backward and harmful to innovation.

A feud months in the making

This clash over Community Notes is only the latest skirmish in a bitter personal rivalry. Earlier this year, after Trump rolled out sweeping new tariffs -- dubbed “Liberation Day” by his allies -- Navarro celebrated the policy victory. Musk immediately criticised it, calling for “zero tariffs” between countries.

Navarro mocked Musk in an interview with CNBC: “When it comes to tariffs and trade, we all understand in the White House, and the American people understand, that Elon is a car manufacturer, but he’s not a car manufacturer. He’s a car assembler. He wants the cheap foreign parts.”

Musk hit back on X, calling Navarro “truly a moron” and “dumber than a sack of bricks” and deriding his academic credentials with “A PhD in econ from Harvard is a bad thing, not a good thing.” He even mocked Navarro’s invention of “Ron Vara,” a fictional trade expert used to bolster anti-China arguments.

Although Navarro publicly downplayed the feud on television by saying “Elon and I are fine,” tensions quickly reignited once X fact-checked his posts about India’s oil imports.

The diplomatic fallout

Navarro’s rhetoric is increasingly seen as undermining Trump’s own attempts to stabilise ties with India. On August 6 Trump justified new tariffs on Indian goods by citing Russian oil imports, but days later he reassured reporters, “India and the US have a special relationship and there is nothing to worry about. I’ll always be friends with (Narendra) Modi, he’s a great prime minister.” Modi responded warmly on X, saying he “deeply” appreciated and “fully” reciprocated Trump’s sentiments.

Despite these conciliatory statements, Navarro’s aggressive language, including describing India as an “oil money laundromat for the Kremlin,” has been noted by US media as “deepening the crisis in the relationship” even as other officials try to steady it.