Karoline Leavitt dismissed the public fight between Elon Musk and Peter Navarro over tariffs, saying "boys will be boys," while speaking with reporters on Tuesday, a day before President Donald Trump's trade tariffs are scheduled to kick in.
At the afternoon briefing led by Leavitt, the White House's youngest Press Secretary, she confirmed that the tariffs would go into effect on April 9 as planned by the Trump administration.
When asked by a reporter if Trump is concerned over whether Musk and Navarro's public sparring may taint the public's understanding of the tariffs, Leavitt vehemently refused.
"No. Look, these are two individuals who obviously have very different views on trade, on tariffs. Boys will be boys, and we will let their public sparring continue," Leavitt said with a smirk.
"You guys should all be very grateful that we have the most transparent administration in the history," Leavitt said, adding that it shows Trump's willingness to "listen" to "very diverse opinions on very diverse issues."
Earlier on Tuesday, Musk called Navarro "truly a moron," adding, "Navarro is dumber than a sack of bricks."
The spat started after Navarro commented on Musk's businesses during a CNBC interview, saying that he is not a car manufacturer with Tesla but an assembler of parts.
Trump has declared sweeping 10% tariffs on all countries, with certain nations, including China, South Korea, Japan, India, and the European Union, facing even higher tariffs. The announcement wiped off around $6 trillion of market value in Wall Street equities, according to the Guardian.
Kristalina Georgieva, the International Monetary Fund's Managing Director, raised concerns following China's retaliation against U.S. tariffs, urging the United States and its trade partners to steer clear of escalation that could lead to worldwide trade conflicts, adding that the tariffs posed a "significant risk" to the global economy.
According to JPMorgan, as reported by CNBC, the likelihood of the U.S. entering a recession has increased from 40% to 60% as of Thursday.
"These policies, if sustained, would likely push the US and possibly global economy into recession this year," wrote Bruce Kasman, head of global economic research at JPMorgan, on Thursday.
The president, however, seems far from concerned about the downturns plaguing the economy.
He defended the sweeping tariffs on imports while speaking to reporters onboard Air Force One on Sunday, claiming that these changes will help investments return to the US and make it "wealthy like never before."
He also justified the tariffs by saying, "Sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something."
His Cabinet advisors, too, have downplayed the stock market fall.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told NBC's Meet the Press that were was "no reason" to expect a recession.
He called it an "adjustment process," adding, "[Trump] created maximum leverage for himself, and more than 50 countries have approached the administration about lowering their non-tariff trade barriers, lowering their tariffs, stopping currency manipulation."
Tech billionaire Elon Musk, who is Trump's greatest ally and Department of Government Efficiency head, is reportedly making repeated attempts to convince Trump to back off from the wave of tariffs, the Washington Post reported, as the rift between the duo continues to grow. Musk's personal fortune fell below $300bn for the first time since 2024 due to plummeting stock prices.
