Trump Makes Shocking Move: Appoints Peter Navarro as Senior Trade Advisor—What This Means for the Economy

Peter Navarro, a former aide who was imprisoned for his role in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, is returning to the White House for President-elect Donald Trump’s second term.When Navarro, a trade adviser during Trump’s first term, refused to comply with a subpoena from the House committee looking into Jan. 6, he was found in contempt of Congress. He characterized his conviction as the “partisan weaponization of the judicial system” and was given a four-month prison sentence. Peter Navarro, a former aide who was imprisoned for his role in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, is returning to the White House for President-elect Donald Trump’s second term.

According to Trump’s announcement on his social media platform Truth Social, Navarro will be a senior advisor for trade and manufacturing. The role “leverages Peter’s broad range of White House experience, while harnessing his extensive Policy analytic and Media skills,” according to Trump’s letter. When Navarro, a trade adviser during Trump’s first term, refused to comply with a subpoena from the House committee looking into Jan. 6, he was found in contempt of Congress. He characterized his conviction as the “partisan weaponization of the judicial system” and was given a four-month prison sentence.

When Navarro took the stage at the Republican National Convention in July shortly after his parole, he told the audience, “I went to prison so you won’t have to.” The 75-year-old Navarro has long opposed trade agreements with China. He taught economics and public policy at the University of California, Irvine after receiving his doctorate in economics from Harvard University. After losing his 1992 bid for mayor of San Diego, he went on to run unsuccessfully in several campaigns, including a 1996 bid for Congress as the Democratic nominee.

Navarro vigorously promoted tariffs during Trump’s first term while downplaying the dangers of starting a wider trade war. Along with concentrating on fake imports, he even assisted in putting together an infrastructure plan for Trump that was never implemented. US allies were offended by Navarro’s frequent use of venomous rhetoric. “There’s a special place in hell for any foreign leader that engages in bad faith diplomacy with President Donald J. Trump and then tries to stab him in the back on the way out the door,” Navarro stated in 2018, following a disagreement between Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Additionally, Trump declared that he has asked Michael Whatley to lead the Republican National Committee. Together with Trump’s son Eric’s wife, Lara Trump, Whatley oversaw the committee during the race. Trump appointed Adam Boehler as special presidential envoy for prisoner situations, Jared Isaacman as NASA administrator, and Daniel Driscoll as secretary of the Army. The 41-year-old tech entrepreneur Isaacson carried out the first private spacewalk and purchased a number of spaceflights from Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

In addition, he has booked two additional trips with SpaceX, one of which will be as the commander of the first crew to board the company’s massive rocket Starship, which is currently undergoing test flights from Texas. Isaacman expressed his gratitude for the nomination. He stated via X, “I am passionate about America leading the most incredible adventure in human history, having had the good fortune to see our amazing planet from space.”
NASA’s current administrator, 82-year-old Bill Nelson, a former Florida U.S. Senator, has also been in space. As a congressman, he flew aboard the space shuttle just before the January 1986 Challenger disaster. President Joe Biden appointed Nelson to the space agency’s top job in 2021.