The White House has “deliberately curtailed” the public profile of its top trade advisor, Peter Navarro, according to CNBC.
Navarro, the toughest China critic in the White House, gave a fiery speech on China Friday. Speaking at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Navarro said that “globalist billionaires” from Wall Street banks and hedge funds were “unregistered foreign agents” acting as part of a “Chinese influence operation” attempting to pressure President Donald Trump into cutting a trade deal with China.
“If there is a deal — if and when there is a deal, it will be on President Donald J. Trump’s terms. Not Wall Street’s terms,” Navarro said.
White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow in a CNBC interview on Tuesday rebuked Navarro, saying he “was not speaking for the president, nor was he speaking for the administration.”
“His remarks were way off base. They were not authorized by anybody. I actually think he did the president a great disservice,” Kudlow said.
CNBC reports that Navarro has been reined in, for now:
The White House has deliberately curtailed trade advisor Peter Navarro’s public profile amid a clash with top economic advisor Larry Kudlow, a person with knowledge of the matter told CNBC on condition of anonymity.
Despite the tensions, neither official is expected to leave the administration soon, said the source, who declined to be named. President Donald Trump could also change his mind at any time about Navarro’s role.
President Trump is scheduled to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G-20 summit in Argentina this month.
Navarro has been an influential advocate inside the administration for tougher China policies. He has clashed with other White House and administration officials who wanted to take a softer line on China, including Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Kudlow’s predecessor, Gary Cohn.