Due to his belligerent personality, which upset key members of Trump's team including the world's richest man Musk, 75-year-old White House Senior Advisor for Trade and Manufacturing Peter Navarro has once again come into public view.

In internal photos leaked from the White House, it was found that Navarro was not involved in the decision-making process to suspend "reciprocal tariffs" on certain countries. On April 9th, Fox Business host Charles Payne directly asked Navarro during a live interview if Trump intended to have Treasury Secretary Besten and Commerce Secretary Lutnik take charge of economic policies.

Navarro responded that this decision-making process was the result of joint efforts by the White House economic team. Each member has their own comparative advantages, and they get along well. As for the issue raised by Payne regarding the contradiction between Trump's new decision and Navarro's一贯 aggressive stance, he consistently expressed support for Trump's trade policy.

After Trump announced the tariff decision, the White House posted a photo of Trump sitting in the Oval Office. Behind him stood Besten and Lutnik.

Multiple sources familiar with the matter revealed that over the weekend, Besten specifically flew from Washington to Mar-a-Lago in Florida to persuade Trump to focus on negotiations with trading partners to avoid further declines in US stocks. He particularly emphasized the consistent concern among the White House economic team about signs of trouble with US debt, eventually persuading Trump to make the decision.

Navarro has consistently insisted on reducing America's trade deficit through tariffs. He once stated externally that Trump's purpose was not to negotiate through tariffs, but later Besten denied this, saying that imposing tariffs is part of Trump's negotiation strategy.

Additionally, Republican Senator Kevin Cramer of North Dakota and others are increasingly concerned that without deep connections in Washington, Navarro's rudeness and stubbornness will lead to an uncontrollable trade war initiated under his involvement, causing terrible consequences for the American economy.

At the age of 75, Navarro earned a Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University and gradually accepted and formed radical leftist ideas when he was young, criticizing globalization and free trade. During his time teaching at the University of California, he made multiple attempts to enter politics but failed.

Because of many coinciding radical political and economic views, Trump identified the "academic fringe figure" Navarro during his first term to head the newly established White House National Trade Council. Navarro argues that America's trade deficit with China threatens national security and economic security. He once boasted that America is the most profitable and largest market in the world, so no country would dare to impose tariffs on America.

In 2019, Navarro was exposed for fabricating the non-existent "Harvard economist Ron Vara," whose name appeared in several of his books. Later, Navarro himself admitted that it was a pseudonym he invented.

Mark Meadows, the former Chief of Staff of the White House during Trump's first term, commented on this scandal, stating that he should have fired Navarro at the time. Another source said that Navarro also clashed with several White House officials, but his hawkish personality and rigid attitude toward tariffs were exactly what Trump needed for his long-term agenda, so he remained in the White House until completing his four-year term.

In 2023, Navarro was sentenced to four months in prison for refusing to comply with the subpoena issued by the House Select Committee investigating the Capitol attack.

"Loyalty" is Trump's primary criterion for selecting people after re-entering the White House, so he still nominated Navarro as the Senior Advisor for Trade and Manufacturing. However, in the more than two months since taking office, there have been very few public appearances of Navarro in reports, only occasionally appearing on conservative TV programs.

Original Source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7491658615716135433/

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