'Modi's war'? Peter Navarro, brain behind Trump tariffs, was once called an a**hole by his aid. His controversies prove it right
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "'Modi's war'? Peter Navarro, brain behind Trump tariffs, was once called an a**hole by his aid. His controversies prove it right")
Peter Navarro and Indian PM Narendra Modi are shown in this picture Photograph: (Others)
Peter Navarro, a trade hawk, is hogging limelight with acerbic remarks against India amid the Trump tariff war. He controversially called the Ukraine-Russia conflict "Modi's war," but is no stranger to controversy. Did you know he was even jailed once?
In one of the most vapid statements to emerge from his acerbic tongue yet, Peter Navarro said the Ukraine-Russia conflict is 'Modi's war.' The once-jailed, 76-year-old opportunist Democrat-turned-trade protectionist Republican hardliner is no stranger to controversy. Here is what you should know about the man, once described by a former aide as an a**hole, who has also called India the 'Maharaja of tariffs.'
What exactly did Peter Navarro say about 'Modi's war'?
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the only world leader who took the stance, 'this is not the era of war,' when the US and Europe were arming Ukraine to resist the Russian invasion. In his remarks to Bloomberg TV, however, Navarro flipped the entire script. He said India "look us bald-faced in the eye and say they don’t have the highest tariffs in the world, when in fact they do."
"Then they say we’re not going to stop buying Russian oil. Now what does that mean? Russia uses the money it gets to fund its war machine, kill more Ukrainians, and then Ukraine comes to us and Europe and says give us more money. So American taxpayers lose because we’ve got to fund Modi’s war,” he added.
But is Peter Navarro really the trade or commerce offcial of US? Who really is he?
Peter Navarro, the 76-year-old economist and political firebrand, spent decades shifting from a liberal Democrat to a trade protectionist hardliner under Donald Trump.
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Born on 15 July 1949 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Navarro was a Professor Emeritus of Economics and Public Policy at the University of California, Irvine.
He became famous during Donald Trump’s first administration (2017–2021), as the Director of the White House National Trade Council, and later leading the Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy. In Trump’s second term, he returned as Senior Counsellor for Trade and Manufacturing, continuing to push a protectionist trade agenda.
Point to note here: He was never the top US trade or commerce official. But Navarro was a key figure in renegotiating NAFTA into the USMCA and implementing sweeping tariffs on steel, aluminium, and Chinese goods.
Seven times Navarro proved his ex-aide right by being an a**hole
Navarro’s career has been defined by both policy influence and scandals. Here are the top seven:
1. Contempt of Congress (2021–2024) and jail time
Navarro was convicted on two counts of contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena related to the 2021 January 6 Capitol riot investigation. He cited executive privilege, but the court found no evidence Trump had formally invoked it. Eventually, Navarro served four months in prison and was fined $9,500. Upon release, Navarro called the case “an attack on constitutional principles.”
2. Election fraud conspiracies
After Trump’s 2020 election loss, Navarro became a leading promoter of discredited election fraud claims. His 'Navarro Report' and a plan dubbed the 'Green Bay Sweep' aimed to delay election certification.
3. The “Ron Vara” scandal
Navarro invented a fictional economist named Ron Vara — an anagram of his own name — and cited him in several books. When exposed, he dismissed it as a 'Hitchcockian writing device' and an inside joke, but the stunt raised questions about his scholarly credibility.
4. Trade policy Clashes: Musk called him a moron, colleagues disliked him
Navarro frequently clashed with colleagues like Steven Mnuchin and Gary Cohn over his extreme positions on tariffs. He reportedly shouted at Mnuchin during a 2018 China trip. In 2019, he claimed tariffs had “no impact” on Americans, an assertion fact-checked as false.
In April 2025, Elon Musk attacked Navarro’s trade stance, calling him a “moron” and “dumber than a sack of bricks.” Navarro responded by calling Musk a mere “car assembler” dependent on foreign parts.
5. COVID-19 missteps
Navarro famously championed hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malaria drug, as a COVID-19 treatment, despite scientific consensus against it. He also penned an editorial criticising Dr Anthony Fauci, which was later disavowed by the White House and the publisher, USA Today. A ventilator contract he arranged in 2020 was terminated due to overpayment concerns and became the subject of an internal investigation.
6. Criticism of Germany and the Euro
Navarro accused Germany of manipulating the euro to gain unfair trade advantages, despite the fact that Germany doesn’t control the currency. Economist Paul Krugman dismissed the broader accusation as flawed.
7. Difficult Conduct: Who called him an a**hole?
Navarro is known for being difficult to work with, even among allies. His ex-campaign manager, Larry Remer, summed it up in The New Yorker, saying, “He’s an a**hole, and he’s unreliable.” That behaviour continued into his time in the Trump White House, where his abrasive style strained relationships with key officials and fuelled internal conflicts.
