Peter Navarro Pushes Back As Fox Host Says It Seemed He Was ‘Mucking Up the Public Relations’ Ahead of Tariff Pause

Peter Navarro pushed back after Fox Business’ Charles Payne suggested Navarro may have been “mucking up” the public messaging for President Donald Trump’s tariffs.

Navarro, Trump’s trade advisor, joined Payne on Wednesday just minutes after the president announced a pause on dozens of tariffs that were announced just days before and caused some major stock market chaos. While many tariffs have been paused, Trump raised tariffs on China to 125% in response to them imposing retaliatory tariffs in response to Trump’s original announcement.

Payne praised Navarro for a “terrific job,” saying he enjoyed “all the green” he was seeing on the screen for a change, but he also questioned whether Navarro was the best messenger for the job. Payne also threw in Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

Navarro has been one of the more vocal faces from the administration defending tariffs and dismissing concerns about falling stocks, even openly feuding with fellow Trump ally and advisor Elon Musk.

“You and I have been friends for a decade and we’ve had some donnybrooks on the air over that time, but the fact of the matter is that it felt like in many ways you and also Lutnick were mucking up the public relations aspect,” Payne told Navarro.

“No, no, no! Come on, Charles. Don’t believe everything you read in the fake news,” Navarro shot back.

Payne moved on to praising the administration for the seeming turnaround, but Navarro circled back to Payne’s criticism, railing against “anonymous sources.” Payne denied such reports were behind his thinking, calling Navarro a “tough” voice on trade that may not always be the best influence on negotiations.

Payne argued though that Trump’s Wednesday announcement marked a “great moment” for the country and the White House.

Check out the exchange below:

CHARLES PAYNE: You and I have been friends for a decade and we’ve had some donnybrooks on the air over that time, but the fact of the matter is that it felt like in many ways you and also Lutnick were mucking up the public relations aspect.

PETER NAVARRO: No, no, no! Come on, Charles. Don’t believe everything you read in the fake news. I mean, who reports —

PAYNE: Well the bottom line is you’ve got momentum. The white house has momentum. President Trump is looking brilliant right now, and again, I thought him starting so high with tariff levels that no one had thought was possible, no one gamed for, 75 countries coming to the table, we got 90 days out there, how soon before we start to hear some of these deals? It sounds like South Korea is close. It sounds like Japan is close.

NAVARRO: No, no, we’re getting folks coming in, in real time. We’ve already had people come in in real time. We’re working on things. So this is going to move fast and beautifully. One thing I want to say, Charles, of all of the stories everybody reads out there, about the dissension in the ranks or this, that, and the other thing, have you ever read any story that wasn’t based on anonymous sources?

PAYNE: It was the sources, Pete. It did feel like you were a little bit off — listen, I know your role. You’re the guy that’s written all these books against China. You saw the threat before most people on Wall Street but also, you’re not the soft guy. You’re a tough dude and you’ve gone in there in ways that maybe is great, maybe, but at times, the negotiating process, might have thrown things off, might not have been on-message. That’s all I was saying, but the bottom line is this is a great moment for the country, a great moment for the White House right now.

Watch above via Fox Business.