Peter Navarro's 'Brahmin' remarks row: Who is Trump's trade adviser, whom Elon Musk once called 'moron'

Navarro is the chief trade adviser to US President Donald Trump. (Image: AFP)

White House trade adviser Peter Navarro has come at the centre of controversy yet again with his comments on US President Donal Trump’s imposition of 50 power cent tariffs on export of India goods.

Notably, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who was part of Trump’s administration as DOGE chief, had dubbed him “dumber than a sack of bricks" and called him “truly a moron".

“Navarro is truly a moron. What he says here is demonstrably false. Tesla has the most American-made cars. Navarro is dumber than a sack of bricks," Musk had posted on X on April 8 this year.

Navarro called India “nothing but a laundromat for the Kremlin” and alleged that “Brahmins are profiteering at the expense of the Indian people”, while arguing in favour of the tariff imposition.

He asked why the world’s “biggest democracy” was doing business with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, in his criticism of India buying Russian crude oil.

This is not the first time that Navarro has attacked India over its purchase of Russian oil. He recently defended the US tariffs on India which doubled with an additional 25 per cent giving the same argument.

Navarro told Fox News – upon being asked if imposition of such tariffs in India was unfair given China also plays the same role and whether it was enough to impact Russia – that India currently faces a 50 per cent tariff, while China is charged slightly more than 50 per cent. At the same time, he also said, “I want Indians to understand what is going on. Brahmins are profiteering by buying Russian oil at the expense of the Indian people.”

He further said that the US needs to see how much higher it can go without hurting itself.

He also pointed out that India’s purchase of Russian oil was not significant before the Ukraine invasion in February 2022.

“What happened? Well, the Russian refiners went in and got into bed with big oil India. Putin gives (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi a discount on the crude. They refine it and they ship it to Europe, Africa and Asia at a big premium and they make a ton of money,” he said.

American national security expert Derek J Grossman did not concur with Navarro’s remarks and said, "Fomenting caste unrest in India should never be US foreign policy.”

Who is Peter Navarro?

Navarro is the chief trade adviser to US President Donald Trump and instrumental to the ongoing trade war with China, imposition of tariffs on India and other countries.

US President Trump’s trade adviser is a convicted felon who served four months of a jail term for attempting to overturn the 2020 Presidential election results.

Navarro claimed that the elections were rigged and tried to delay its approval and also denied cooperation with a congressional committee investigating the January 6 Capitol Riot. He was found guilty of ignoring subpoenas from the committee.

He has a Master’s degree in public administration and a PhD in Economics from Harvard. Navarro also taught Economics at universities in San Diego and researched public utilities before becoming a professor of Economics and Public Policy at UCI in 1989.

He has also tried his hands in contesting elections as he ran as a Democrat for positions such as San Diego mayor and US Congress. He did not win.

According to The Guardian, Trump picking Navarro as campaign’s trade advisor was a matter of chance when the US President’s son-in-law Jared Kushner was asked to carry out research on China. Kushner reportedly came across Navarro’s book ‘Death By China’ online which led to Trump picking him as his trade adviser.

Navarro has been influential in shaping the economic policy of Trump, the Covid pandemic, and the attempt to overturn the 2020 elections.

Despite his conviction, he has become an integral figure in Trump’s second stint as President and his administration including the decisions taken on trade and economy.