One of President Donald Trump‘s top deputies put in a sharp defense of his administration’s trade policy on Tuesday, saying “the United States was built on tariffs” and promising they can boost the economy again.
Peter Navarro, who spent four months in jail last year on contempt of Congress charges, is now Trump’s senior counselor for trade and manufacturing, and he offered nothing but praise for Trump in an interview with Politico’s Dasha Burns.
“We’re moving at warp speed, and it’s good for the American people,” he said, comparing the quick pace to the sluggish start Trump got off to in 2017. “It’s going to be a golden age.”
Navarro, 75, bragged about being one of the few people to stick with Trump from 2016 through the present and referred to him as “the boss” throughout the interview.
He also offered pointed rebukes of the press, saying the media was at least partially responsible for any perception of chaos within the second Trump administration.
“The media does a terrible job covering trade issues,” he said, saying that reporters tend to focus only on the downsides of tariffs rather than explaining why Trump proposed them. He accused the press of “pearl clutching” over import duties on Canada and Mexico that to date have yet to materialize.
Trump announced 25% tariffs on both countries last week but turned around after meeting with the presidents of each and securing what the administration says are important concessions related to border security and drug trafficking.
Pressed on whether the rapid announcement and about-face amounted to chaos, Navarro responded, “Not to us.”
Navarro defended Trump’s tariffs both for their own sake and as a negotiating tactic. He lamented that the United States runs a $1 trillion trade deficit, which he said is equivalent to transferring that amount of money from the U.S. to other countries each year.
But he also defended the proposed Canada and Mexico tariffs as being about drug policy rather than trade policy.
“This is the president fighting a drug war,” Navarro said. “This is not a trade war.”
Nonetheless, the proposal generated scores of controversy from Democrats and some Republicans, who argue that the uncertainty leaves businesses in limbo and could hurt the U.S.’s relationship with two of its strongest allies.
Navarro argued that those concerns are overblown, pointing, as others in Trump’s orbit have, to the record from his first administration. Trump slapped tariffs on China during his first term while keeping inflation below 2%, which Navarro predicted will happen again.
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He also said that trade policy will be largely run by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent as well as commerce secretary nominee Howard Lutnik and U.S. trade representative nominee Jamieson Greer once they’re confirmed by the Senate. In the meantime, Navarro insisted that Trump knows what he’s doing and that things are not always what they seem from the outside.
“When he does stuff and it looks like things are little chaotic, it’s not,” Navarro said. “It’s genius, and he delivers.”
