People decide the narrative on X: Elon Musk responds to Peter Navarro

In a clash of tweets and truths, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk fired back at White House adviser Peter Navarro, insisting that X is a marketplace of ideas where users, not opinions, set the narrative.

The spat between Musk and Navarro unfolded amid a dispute over India’s purchases of Russian oil. Navarro had posted on X: “India buys Russian oil purely to profit. It didn’t buy any before Russia invaded Ukraine. Indian govt spin machine moving high tilt. Stop killing Ukranians. Stop taking American jobs,” while also criticising the Washington Post’s coverage of India-US relations.

X’s Community Notes fact-check flagged Navarro’s claims as misleading, noting that India’s energy purchases comply with international law. Navarro then criticised Musk for allowing what he called “crap notes” and suggested that Indian “special interests” were influencing US debates.

🧵 Should X put up posts like one below where foreign interests masquerade as objective observers and interfere with domestic U.S. economics and politics? See SCREEN SHOT! Take poll on next post. pic.twitter.com/xb1wakeWFV

— Peter Navarro (@RealPNavarro) September 8, 2025

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Musk replied: “On this platform, the people decide the narrative… You hear all sides of an argument. Community Notes corrects everyone, no exceptions. Notes data & code is public source. Grok provides further fact-checking.”

The Indian government also dismissed Navarro’s remarks. An MEA spokesperson called them “inaccurate and misleading statements.”

Navarro had previously criticised India’s foreign policy, questioning Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s engagements with Russian and Chinese leaders at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Tianjin, and asserting that “India needs to be with us, not Russia”.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump described India-US relations as a “very special relationship” and praised PM Modi, who called the partnership “forward-looking.” Trump appeared to soften his earlier comment about “losing” India to China, adding: “I’ll always be friends” with Modi. Hours later, PM Modi reciprocated, stating that he fully appreciates and reciprocates Trump’s sentiments.

With IANS inputs