Donald Trump's Anti-Free Trade Economist on “Stupid” and “Stupider”

Adam Davidson reports in the The New Yorker:

[Peter] Navarro first came into contact with Trump in 2011, after reading that Trump told the official Chinese government news agency, Xinhua, that Navarro’s first book on China was one of his favorites. The two men communicated occasionally after that, but only met in person during the Presidential campaign. Navarro told me he has spent much more time with the candidate lately, sometimes joining the small circle of advisers invited on his plane....

Navarro’s responses to critiques tend to be blistering and Trumpian. In an e-mail describing economists who disagree with him about trade, he used the words “stupid” and “stupider” to characterize their views. The next morning, when I asked for clarification, he wrote, “This is why I don’t trust you or want to discuss anything on the phone with you. Where did you come up with the ‘stupid’ thing? Were you recording me on our phone call without my permission?”