President-elect Donald Trump announced Wednesday that Peter Navarro will serve as senior counsel for trade and manufacturing in his next administration.
“During my first term, few were more effective or tenacious than Peter in enforcing my two sacred rules, buy American, Hire American. He helped me renegotiate unfair trade deals like NAFTA and the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement and moved every one of my Tariff and Trade actions FAST,” Mr. Trump posted on Truth Social.
“The senior counselor position leverages Peter’s broad range of White House experience while harnessing his extensive policy analytic and media skills. His mission will be to help successfully advance and communicate the Trump manufacturing, tariff and trade agendas,” the statement continued.
Mr. Navarro, 75, is a Harvard-educated economist and has written more than a dozen books on strategic management and unfair trade practices. He also has been a regular columnist for The Washington Times.
The appointment comes less than five months after Mr. Navarro was released from a federal prison in Miami. He served a four-month sentence for defying a congressional subpoena from the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Hours after he was released, Mr. Navarro spoke at the Republican National Convention where he touted Mr. Trump’s first-term accomplishments.
“I went to prison so you won’t have to,” he told the crowd.
In his Wednesday statement, Mr. Trump acknowledged Mr. Navarro’s legal troubles, saying he “was treated horribly by the Deep State or whatever else you would like to call it.”
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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