Ex-aide Peter Navarro says Trump shouldn’t talk at America First Policy Institute

Peter Navarro, a key voice on trade in the prior administration, says former President Donald Trump should not speak to the America First Policy Institute on Tuesday, claiming it is not devoted to the ex-president’s philosophy.

Writing for the American Greatness publication, Mr. Navarro said the panel features policy experts who have clashed with Mr. Trump in the past or worked with persons who are not aligned with the MAGA movement, including a top adviser to ex-Vice President Dick Cheney and the chief of staff to former National Security Adviser John Bolton, who clashed with Mr. Trump after leaving his White House.

Mr. Navarro also pointed to former Energy Secretary Rick Perry, who was on the periphery of the first impeachment charge against Mr. Trump involving a call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

“Yes, it is important for President Trump to have a well-credentialed stable of policy experts capable of both building a 2024 platform and finding solid MAGA talent to populate a new Trump Administration. But the AFPI Trojan Horse — whose leadership is now bragging about how it will staff Trump’s ‘shadow cabinet’ — is decidedly not that,” Mr. Navarro wrote.

Mr. Trump is scheduled to speak to the America First Policy Institute, which shares a name with Mr. Trump’s campaign mantra, on Tuesday afternoon.

The nonprofit’s mission is to promote policies that “put the American people first.”

Mr. Navarro was a hard-liner on trade, particularly with China, during the Trump presidency. He said the institute is not tough enough.

“Most perniciously, the AFPI economics team is peppered with free trade ideologues on record opposing Trump’s tariffs — the most important and transformational component of Donald Trump’s ‘Make America Great Again’ movement,” Mr. Navarro wrote. “The most famous offender here is Trump’s former National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow, who is now vice chairman of the AFPI board.”