Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., told Newsmax on Tuesday that the war of words between President Donald Trump's budget-saving aide Elon Musk and trade adviser Peter Navarro is "characteristic" of the administration, which he says encourages open disagreement.
In an interview with CNBC on Monday, Navarro dismissed Musk as a "car assembler" and "not a car manufacturer" after the Tesla CEO criticized Trump's tariffs. Musk responded by calling Navarro "truly a moron," adding that Tesla "has the most American-made cars. Navarro is dumber than a sack of bricks."
Lankford said on "American Agenda" that disagreement is "characteristic" of the Trump administration, adding that "it's the president's choice to be able to have people have differences of opinion. Those individuals … come make their case to the president, he listens to everybody, then the president makes the decision."
The senator added: "So we're going to have this for four years because not everybody in the administration thinks alike. And that's actually the president's choice."
Lankford noted that this policy "made some of his nominations more challenging than" they needed to be, adding that "many of us were saying, 'Hey, this is not a person I philosophically align with,' and the president could come back and say, 'I'm aware. I agree with some of what they say and disagree, but I want their voice in the room to be able to help make the argument on that.' So we're going to continue to see this throughout the four years of the Trump presidency."
The Oklahoman added: "At the end of the day, the president is going to be able to make the call on the economy. He is the risk-taker in this, and he knows that at the end of the day, it will fall on his legacy."
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