TENSIONS OVER TRADE POLICY within the Trump administration boiled over Tuesday, even as President Trump turned his attention to striking new trade deals that could potentially lead to the removal of some tariffs.

The president's billionaire cost-cutting adviser Elon Musk, who opposes tariffs, is taking aim at the president's top trade adviser, Peter Navarro, to express his disgust with the burgeoning trade war.

That disagreement turned deeply personal Tuesday, with Musk calling Navarro a “moron” for his claims about Tesla's manufacturing practices.

Navarro had claimed in a CNBC interview that Musk’s Tesla company is not a “car manufacturer” at all, but rather a “car assembler” that cobbles its vehicles together from parts imported from around the world.

Musk fired back, saying Tesla “has the most American-made cars.”

“Navarro is dumber than a sack of bricks,” Musk said.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt downplayed the exchange.

“These are obviously two individuals who have very different views on trade and tariffs,” Leavitt said. “Boys will be boys, and we will let their public sparring continue.”

This comes as tempers over tariffs run hot on Capitol Hill, with some Republicans fuming over what they view as a risky and unnecessary trade war.

“Whose throat do I get to choke if this proves to be wrong?” Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) asked U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer during his appearance before the Senate Finance Committee.

“I wish you well, but I am skeptical,” Tillis added.

At the same hearing, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who co-sponsored bipartisan legislation to limit Trump’s trade authority, said he thinks Congress “delegated too much authority to the president.” 

“That said, I support President Trump’s agenda to lower tariffs and non-tariff barriers other countries impose on American goods,” Grassley added. “I support President Trump’s agenda to get a better deal from China and other countries for our farmers and manufacturers.”

Meanwhile, a conservative advocacy group founded by former Vice President Mike Pence launched an ad campaign warning about the impact tariffs will have on farmers.

Trump's reciprocal tariffs will go into effect at midnight tonight.

Markets were mixed Tuesday, though the heavy selling from last week appears to have abated, for now.

The Trump administration is turning its attention to deal-making, leading to hope on Wall Street that at least some of the tariffs will be short-lived.

Administration officials said Tuesday that nearly 70 countries have reached out seeking to begin negotiations.

“Countries are falling over themselves to reform their unfair trade practices and free open their markets to our country,” Leavitt said.

“Bring us your best offers, and [Trump] will listen,” she added.

Greer, the U.S. trade representative, echoed that sentiment in public testimony before Congress.

“Our large and persistent trade deficit has been 30 years in the making and it will not be resolved overnight," he said. "But all of this is in the right direction, particularly as we start to negotiate with these countries."

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he expects some big deals will happen “very quickly,” with administration officials saying allies such as Vietnam, South Korea and Japan have been first in line to open talks.

“I think that right now we're managing a massive number of requests for negotiations,” Kevin Hassett, the director of the National Economic Council, said on Fox News’ "America’s Newsroom." “It's actually logistically quite challenging just to go through them.”

Trump already shot down a “zero-for-zero tariffs” deal offered by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen — even as some Senate Republicans urged him to accept it.

“Not enough,” Trump said.

Trump is threatening even bigger tariffs on China than were previously planned, escalating the trade war with the world’s second largest economy.

Trump says he’ll slap an additional 50 percent tariff on China if it fails to retract its levies on U.S. products by midnight tonight, which would push the overall tariff on Chinese products up to 104 percent.

“The president, when America is punched, he punches back harder,” Leavitt said.

“But the president believes that Xi and China want to make a deal...if China reaches out to make a deal, he will be incredibly gracious,” she added.

China fired back at Trump’s latest threats, promising new tariffs on U.S. products and vowing to “fight to the end."