Peter Navarro, former Director of the U.S. Office of Trade & Manufacturing, gestures as he speaks on Day 3 of the Republican National Convention (RNC), at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S., July 17, 2024.
Mike Segar | Reuters
President-elect Donald Trump announced Wednesday that Peter Navarro will serve as “Senior Counselor for Trade and Manufacturing” in his next White House term.
Navarro, 75, will be tasked with helping to “successfully advance and communicate the Trump Manufacturing, Tariff, and Trade Agendas,” Trump wrote in a pair of Truth Social posts revealing the pick.
Navarro was previously a top trade aide for Trump during his first term.
The selection came less than five months after Navarro’s release from prison.
He served a roughly four-month sentence in a federal facility in Miami for defying a congressional subpoena from the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot. He was convicted on two counts of contempt of Congress.
Hours after his release on July 17, Navarro spoke at the Republican National Convention.
Trump in Wednesday’s posts said Navarro “was treated horribly by the Deep State, or whatever else you would like to call it.”
Trump also lauded Navarro as a “tenacious” advocate for “my two sacred rules, Buy American, Hire American.”
Navarro has been a staunch defender of Trump’s protectionist views, echoing his support for tariffs and wariness of trade deals backed by so-called globalists.
After Trump lost the 2020 election to President Joe Biden, Navarro spread debunked claims that widespread voter fraud resulted in the race being stolen from Trump.