Trump taps former aide Navarro as senior counselor for trade and manufacturing

President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday tapped his once-imprisoned former adviser Peter Navarro to be senior counselor for trade and manufacturing in his next administration.

Navarro, 75, who served as director of the White House National Trade Council in Trump’s first administration, spent four months in federal prison earlier this year after being held in contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena from the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6 riot.

“I am pleased to announce that Peter Navarro, a man who was treated horribly by the Deep State, or whatever else you would like to call it, will serve as my Senior Counselor for Trade and Manufacturing,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social.

“During my First Term, few were more effective or tenacious than Peter in enforcing my two sacred rules, Buy American, Hire American,” Trump said.

Navarro was convicted on two counts of contempt of Congress for refusing to provide documents and testimony to congressional investigators probing the root causes of the attack on the Capitol in 2021. The committee subpoenaed Navarro in February 2022, and he quickly indicated he would refuse to comply, citing executive privilege.

The House held Navarro in contempt two months later, and the Justice Department soon followed suit with criminal charges.

Trump said that Navarro’s mission would be to “help successfully advance and communicate the Trump Manufacturing, Tariff, and Trade Agendas,” in a separate post on his social media platform. He said the position would leverage Navarro’s "broad range of White House experience, while harnessing his extensive Policy analytic and Media skills.”

The role does not require Senate confirmation.

During Trump's first term, Navarro played a role in the re-negotiations of the North American Free Trade Agreement that became the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement in 2018, as well as the revised version of the United States-Korea Free Trade Agreement, known as KORUS. Trump said Navarro had helped move “every one of my Tariff and Trade actions FAST” in his social media post.

“Peter is not just a superb, Harvard-trained Economist, he is a noted author of more than a dozen bestselling books on strategic business management and unfair Trade,” Trump wrote. “He did a superb job for the American People in my First Term. Peter will do even better as Senior Counselor to protect American Workers, and truly Make American Manufacturing Great Again.”

Navarro, an economist, holds a PhD from Harvard University, and formerly taught economics and public policy at the University of California, Irvine.

Navarro was the second former Trump aide convicted for refusing to cooperate with the Jan. 6 panel.

Kyle Cheney contributed to this report.