Trump trade adviser Navarro gains clout — and lots of critics

WASHINGTON — When President Donald Trump first vowed to impose a 5% tariff on Mexico if it didn’t do more to stem the flow of migrants to the border, he told White House officials he wanted Peter Navarro on TV defending the plan.

The next morning, the presidential adviser appeared on CNBC and called the tariff threat “a brilliant move,” while preaching the trade protectionist gospel that has endeared him to Mr. Trump and earned him enemies across Washington and corporate America.

A week later, Mr. Trump announced a border deal with Mexico that avoided a trade war, and he has spent the days since extolling the virtues of tariffs.

The showdown with Mexico marks a high point in Mr. Navarro’s tumultuous tenure in the White House as Mr. Trump’s increasingly aggressive actions on trade, including toward China, mirror policies that the man he calls “my Peter” has pushed since the beginning of the administration.

Mr. Navarro, along with White House adviser and immigration hawk Stephen Miller, helped devise the proposed Mexican tariffs and beat back arguments from other aides that Mr. Trump did not have the legal authority to implement the trade penalties, and that the fight could derail the new trade deal with Mexico and Canada, according to White House aides. Like others interviewed for this story, they spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the internal debates.

Mr. Navarro’s ascension is frightening his critics, who have derided him as an ideologue who doesn’t let facts get in the way of his agenda, while cheering supporters of the president eager for Mr. Trump to emphasize his nationalist agenda ahead of his 2020 reelection campaign.

“Peter is a fierce warrior for my father’s America First trade agenda and while it may upset some members of the failed bipartisan establishment of the Washington Swamp, he understands that we can’t allow China to continue taking advantage of American workers and hollowing out our industrial base,” Donald Trump Jr. said in a statement to The Washington Post. “His only agenda is my father’s agenda and the White House is lucky to have him.”

The effectiveness of Mr. Navarro’s approach will be put to the test if Mr. Trump follows through on his threats and musings about implementing tariffs and tightening U.S. trade practices. The result of what has been done so far is unclear.

Mr. Trump still hasn’t inked final trade deals with Canada, Mexico, Japan, China or the European Union — all of which the president has claimed will be far better than anything agreed to under his predecessors. And while many indicators are still strong, there are signs that the economy is beginning to slow, a development that many economists and free-trade-supporting Republicans warn will be exacerbated if the president continues to follow a hard-line approach.