Trade adviser Peter Navarro just did something very rare for a Trump official: Apologize

President Trump's trade adviser Peter Navarro broke the insult-o-meter Sunday, suggesting there was "a special place in hell" for Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Now he's walking those comments back.

Navarro, the president's director of trade and industrial policy, is a big backer of Trump's recent tariffs on Canada, China, and the EU. So when Trudeau channeled his inner Hugh Grant to declare Canada wouldn't "be pushed around" by American tariffs, Navarro viciously slammed Trudeau in response:

Navarro reversed those harsh words Tuesday while speaking at a Wall Street Journal-sponsored event, saying he "used language that was inappropriate" while trying to convey "a signal of strength," Bloomberg reports. "I own that, that was my mistake, those were my words," Navarro said.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Sign up

Turns out saying sorry isn't just a Canadian thing.