‘Crap Note’: Peter Navarro slams Musk after X fact-checks him over his tirade against India

US President Donald Trump’s Trade Representative, Peter Navarro, slammed billionaire and erstwhile ‘First Buddy’ Elon Musk after the latter’s platform X fact-checked the former over his claim of New Delhi “profiteering” from energy purchases from Moscow.

In recent months, Navarro has spewed countless provocative remarks against New Delhi in a bid to justify Trump’s 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods. On Friday, Trump’s trade representative accused India of buying the Russian oil “purely to profit” to feed the Russian “war machine” in Ukraine.

“FACTS: India’s highest tariffs cost US jobs. India buys Russian oil purely to profit/Revenues feed the Russian war machine. Ukrainians/Russians die. U.S. taxpayers shell out more. India can’t handle truth/spins,” Navarro had posted on X.

Wow. @elonmusk is letting propaganda into people’s posts. That crap note below is just that. Crap. India buys Russia oil solely to profiteer. It didn’t buy any before Russia invaded Ukraine. Indian govt spin machine moving high tilt. Stop killing Ukranians. Stop taking… https://t.co/Uj1NMUrVOM

— Peter Navarro (@RealPNavarro) September 6, 2025

X fact checks Navarro

Hours later, the Elon Musk-owned social media platform added a community note under Navarro’s post, titled “Readers added context they thought people might want to know”.

The note stated that India’s purchase of Russian oil is for “energy security” and does not violate any sanctions. It also highlighted the United States’ import of uranium and minerals from Russia and termed it “hypocritical”.

“India’s Russian oil purchases are for energy security, not just profit, & don’t violate sanctions. While India has some tariffs, the US has a trade surplus with it in services. US also continues to import certain commodities from Russia, which is hypocritical,” the community note read.

After X fact-checked Navarro, he slammed Elon Musk, alleging that it’s a “propaganda”. “Wow. @elonmusk is letting propaganda into people’s posts. That crap note below is just that. Crap. India buys Russian oil solely to profiteer. It didn’t buy any before Russia invaded Ukraine. The Indian government’s spin machine is moving high tilt. Stop killing Ukrainians. Stop taking American jobs,” Navarro responded on X to the community note.

It is pertinent to note that Trump and Musk shared a brief bromance during the president’s 2024 election campaign against then-Vice President Kamala Harris. However, Musk and Trump had a public fall-out over Trump’s controversial “big beautiful bill”.

Meanwhile, Navarro’s response was once again fact-checked by X, which went on to underline that it was India’s sovereign decision to buy Russian oil, which was also not a violation of any law. The social media platform also pointed to the US’s “double standard” in terms of its own purchase of uranium from Moscow.