Trump Announces MAGA Loyalist Peter Navarro Will Be His Right-Hand Man
Donald Trump has decided to appoint his former lawyer Peter Navarro to serve as senior counselor for trade and manufacturing. Trump made the announcement in a Truth Social post Wednesday, claiming Navarro “was treated horribly by the Deep State, or whatever else you would like to call it,” but failing to mention that the one-time Trump lawyer served four months in prison for contempt of Congress after defying a subpoena from the House January 6 committee.Even while in prison, Navarro maintained his steadfast loyalty to the president-elect, going so far as to discuss Trump’s first-term agenda from behind bars. After being released, he stayed in the Trump orbit but was critical of how team Trump ran their 2024 presidential campaign. Now, according to Trump, Navarro will be helping to “successfully advance and communicate the Trump Manufacturing, Tariff, and Trade Agendas.”In 2022, Navarro was indicted for failing to testify or provide documents to the House committee. He spent years refusing to testify before the House, trying to claim executive privilege because he was acting on Trump’s instructions after the 2020 election, although Trump never told the January 6 committee this nor did he back up Navarro’s claim in any way. After a federal judge rejected the executive privilege argument, Navarro made a last-minute appeal to the Supreme Court that Chief Justice John Roberts promptly threw out, making Navarro the first ever former White House official to go to prison for being in contempt of Congress.Trump credited Navarro for renegotiating “unfair Trade Deals like NAFTA and the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (KORUS)” in his first term, and the new role he envisions for the economist appears to be on similar policy matters. With Trump’s proposed tariffs egging on a likely trade war this time around, the trade war hawk with staunch loyalty to the president-elect will have plenty to keep him busy the next four years. This story has been updated.
Donald Trump has decided to appoint his former lawyer Peter Navarro to serve as senior counselor for trade and manufacturing.
Trump made the announcement in a Truth Social post Wednesday, claiming Navarro “was treated horribly by the Deep State, or whatever else you would like to call it,” but failing to mention that the one-time Trump lawyer served four months in prison for contempt of Congress after defying a subpoena from the House January 6 committee.
Even while in prison, Navarro maintained his steadfast loyalty to the president-elect, going so far as to discuss Trump’s first-term agenda from behind bars. After being released, he stayed in the Trump orbit but was critical of how team Trump ran their 2024 presidential campaign. Now, according to Trump, Navarro will be helping to “successfully advance and communicate the Trump Manufacturing, Tariff, and Trade Agendas.”
In 2022, Navarro was indicted for failing to testify or provide documents to the House committee. He spent years refusing to testify before the House, trying to claim executive privilege because he was acting on Trump’s instructions after the 2020 election, although Trump never told the January 6 committee this nor did he back up Navarro’s claim in any way.
After a federal judge rejected the executive privilege argument, Navarro made a last-minute appeal to the Supreme Court that Chief Justice John Roberts promptly threw out, making Navarro the first ever former White House official to go to prison for being in contempt of Congress.
Trump credited Navarro for renegotiating “unfair Trade Deals like NAFTA and the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (KORUS)” in his first term, and the new role he envisions for the economist appears to be on similar policy matters. With Trump’s proposed tariffs egging on a likely trade war this time around, the trade war hawk with staunch loyalty to the president-elect will have plenty to keep him busy the next four years.
This story has been updated.
