Kimball Musk, brother of Tesla CEO Elon Musk, has openly criticized U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff policy.
On the 7th (local time), Kimball Musk posted on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), describing Trump's tariffs as "a structural and permanent tax imposed on American consumers." He also mocked that Trump "looks like the U.S. president who imposes the highest taxes in decades."
He continued, "Even if tariffs successfully bring jobs back to the domestic market, prices will remain high, and consumers will ultimately pay more," adding that "we are simply not that good at making things."
Kimball Musk is a director at Tesla and operates a restaurant chain called "The Kitchen." He has previously served as a board member of SpaceX and has co-founded or invested in numerous food and technology startups.
In contrast, his brother Elon Musk has refrained from officially criticizing Trump's tariff policy. However, there are interpretations that recent remarks reflect differing views on tariff policy.
In fact, Musk expressed during a video speech at an event hosted by the Italian far-right party "La Liga" on the 5th that he hopes "the U.S. and Europe build a very close partnership," and that ideally, it should move towards a tariff-free system and a substantial free trade zone. This directly contradicts President Trump's remarks, which announced a reciprocal tariff of 20% on major trading partners.
Musk also showed a critical attitude towards Peter Navarro, a trade and manufacturing advisor at the White House who leads Trump's tariff policy. When a netizen mentioned that "Navarro has a Ph.D. in economics from Harvard," Musk responded, "A Ph.D. in economics from Harvard is a disadvantage, not an advantage," pointing out that "when the ego is bigger than the brains, it becomes a problem."
It is unclear whether Kimball Musk's remarks reflect the intentions of his brother Elon Musk. However, the economic news outlet CNBC reported that, unlike Elon Musk, who publicly supported Trump in last year's election, Kimball donated to the Libertarian Party and contributed to the centrist bipartisan group "Unite America PAC" last year.