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PETER NAVARRO ORIGINALLYset out
to be a politician, not just an adviser to
one. But he had a problem: people didn’t
like him. “He had this burning desire
to be important, to be in charge,” says
Larry Remer, a San Diego–based Demo-
cratic consultant who managed Navarro’s
campaigns. “He was right about a lot of
things. But he was just an a--hole.”
Born in Massachusetts, Navarro grew
up in Florida and Maryland, raised by
his mother, a secretary, after her divorce
from his father, a musician. The family
was working-class. In high school,
Navarro was a self-described “latchkey
kid” who worked multiple jobs and slept
on a sofa in a one-bedroom apartment.
He earned an academic scholarship to
Tufts University, then spent three years
in Thailand with the Peace Corps.
Idealistic but adrift, Navarro found
his calling in economic policy. While
pursuing his Ph.D. at Harvard, he wrote
hisirst book,The Policy Game,a screed
against the “special interests” he charged
with “stealing America.” He argued
strongly against protectionism, saying
tarifs hurt consumers, threatened global
stability and could lead to a trade war
that caused an “unstoppable downward
spiral by the entire world economy.”
After receiving his doctorate, Navarro
moved to Southern California, where
he eventually became a professor of

economics and public policy at the
University of California, Irvine. His
involvement in San Diego politics
started with his opposition to developers,
whom he saw as greedy despoilers of the
environment. In his memoir, Navarro
called them “punks in pinstripes” and
argued that their plans would ruin the
port city’s character. He formed an anti-
growth organization called Prevent Los
Angelization Now, and attempted to
parlay his activism into elected oice.
Navarro hadn’t always been a Dem-
ocrat. Before running for oice, he had
been registered as both a Republican and
an independent, and in his writing he
professed concern that Democrats waste
taxpayers’ money. But he was, he wrote,
“a strong environmentalist and a pro-
gressive on social issues such as choice,
gay rights, and religious freedom.” While
Republicans seemed to “prefer the ‘every
man for himself ’ approach,” Navarro be-
lieved “we ought to progressively tax the
rich to help everybody else.” By the time
of his irst campaign, in 1992, he was sure
he belonged in the Democratic Party.
Navarro won the Democratic primary
for San Diego mayor on his irst try. He
was ahead in the polls for the general
election when he ran an ad attacking his
Republican opponent, Susan Golding,
for her ex-husband’s conviction on drug-
money-laundering charges. But Golding
turned the tables, portraying herself as
the victim of a smear campaign. Navarro’s
fate was sealed when, in their inal debate,
she tearfully recounted the pain Navarro
had caused—while he smirked.
After losing the mayoral race,
Navarro ran for city council in 1993 and

JUNE 22
The E.U. retaliates,
imposingtariffs on
$3.2 billion of U.S.
goods,including
several iconic
American products:
bourbon whiskey,
motorcycles, blue
jeans and peanut
butter.


JUNE 25
Harley-Davidson
announces it is
moving some of
its motorcycle
production outside
the U.S. to avoid
E.U. tariffs.Trump
responds with
an angry tweet
threatening to raise
the company’s
taxes.

JULY 1
Canada imposes
tariffs on
$12.8 billion of
U.S. products,
including steel
and aluminum,
agricultural
products and
consumer goods.

JULY 6
The U.S. rolls
out tariffs on
$34 billion of
Chinese goods.
China retaliates,
targeting U.S. cars
and farm products.
Tariffs on another
$16 billion of
Chinese imports
are set to go into
effect on Aug. 23.
China promises to
respond in kind.

JULY 24
Trump announces
up to$12billion
in farm subsidies
for lost export
sales resulting
from tariffs. A
total of $27 billion
of agriculture
exports—such as
soybeans, corn,
nuts, fruits and
beef—have been
affected.

AUG. 10
Trump announces
he will increase
the steel- and
aluminum-tariff rate
imposed on Turkey
in response to the
depreciation of the
Turkish lira.Turkey
responds with
new tariffs on U.S.
importssuch as
cars, alcohol and
tobacco.

to do protectionism, and when almost
everyone in the room is saying, ‘We cannot
do that, it’ll destroy the economy,’ he’ll
say, ‘Where’s my Peter? What does Peter
think?’ ” says a prominent conservative
trade expert. “The President looks for
validation, and the folks keeping the devil
of his shoulder have disappeared.”
Trump’s tarifs have drawn retaliatory
actions and jolted the markets. They
have also created diplomatic headaches,
complicating relations with America’s
closest allies. Most economists believe
that in the long run, Navarro’s vision
would cause a major hit to the U.S.
economy, with rising inlation, bankrupt
farms and businesses, and thousands
of lost jobs. “There is a lot of evidence
that inward-looking economic policies
that isolate a country from the rest of
the world are bad for that country,” says
Greg Mankiw, a Harvard economist who
chaired the Council of Economic Advisers
under President George W. Bush.
“You could make a list of the 100 most
prominent economists in the world, and
Peter Navarro wouldn’t be on it. His views
are very, very far from the mainstream.”
As the trade debate rages, the policy’s
architect remains something of a mystery.
How did Navarro, a Democrat whose phi-
losophy was formed by environmentalism
and anti-corporatism, become the man
behind Trump’s trade war?


Navarro is the most powerful person


in Washington on the most volatile


issue of Donald Trump’s presidency

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