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BootinUp

(51,683 posts) Thu May 28, 2026, 08:10 AM Thursday

Oh look, more corruption

Max Boot Substack note:

Oh look, more corruption:

“Interviews and Defense Department records reviewed by ProPublica show that the request to loan hundreds of millions of dollars to the firm linked to Trump Jr. was made by Peter Navarro, a White House adviser to President Donald Trump and a friend of Trump Jr.’s.

“Of the dozens of companies the Pentagon was considering funding at the time, Vulcan’s was the only deal initiated by a top aide to the president, said an official at the Pentagon who was not authorized to speak publicly.”

https://www.propublica.org/article/donald-trump-jr-vulcan-deal-white-house

https://substack.com/@maxboot/note/c-266499707?r=1uz6fn&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action

10 replies

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Highlight:

Oh look, more corruption (Original Post) BootinUp Thursday OP

I'm a little surprised about this, as Peter Navarro is usually a real straight shooter... displacedvermoter Thursday #1

It's hard to believe that that old piece of shit PCIntern Thursday #2

You're thinking of Ron Vara. Swede Thursday #3

A corrupt POS... GiqueCee Thursday #5

+1 dalton99a Thursday #6

Good friends with John Barron, another reliable authority... displacedvermoter Thursday #7

Right.......... rzemanfl Thursday #4

Huh? Wiz Imp Thursday #10

Peter Navarro a.k.a. Ron Vara Seinan Sensei Thursday #8

Man With An Alias Must Have Lots To Hide 2na fisherman Thursday #9

displacedvermoter

(5,046 posts)

1. I'm a little surprised about this, as Peter Navarro is usually a real straight shooter...

Reply to BootinUp (Original post)

Thu May 28, 2026, 08:28 AM

Thursday

PCIntern

(28,628 posts)

2. It's hard to believe that that old piece of shit

Reply to displacedvermoter (Reply #1)

Thu May 28, 2026, 08:35 AM

Thursday

was once a young piece of shit.

Swede

(40,198 posts)

3. You're thinking of Ron Vara.

Reply to displacedvermoter (Reply #1)

Thu May 28, 2026, 08:37 AM

Thursday

Peter Navarro is a corrupt POS.

GiqueCee

(4,836 posts)

5. A corrupt POS...

Reply to Swede (Reply #3)

Thu May 28, 2026, 08:49 AM

Thursday

... with a permanent facial expression that says, "I'M GOING TO EAT YOUR BABIES!"

dalton99a

(95,601 posts)

6. +1

Reply to Swede (Reply #3)

Thu May 28, 2026, 08:51 AM

Thursday

displacedvermoter

(5,046 posts)

7. Good friends with John Barron, another reliable authority...

Reply to Swede (Reply #3)

Thu May 28, 2026, 11:02 AM

Thursday

rzemanfl

(31,472 posts)

4. Right..........

Reply to displacedvermoter (Reply #1)

Thu May 28, 2026, 08:47 AM

Thursday

🙄

Wiz Imp

(10,522 posts)

10. Huh?

Reply to displacedvermoter (Reply #1)

Thu May 28, 2026, 12:23 PM

Thursday

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/04/08/trump-adviser-peter-navarro-california-170105

Larry Remer, a veteran Democratic political consultant who ran two of Navarro’s campaigns, describes his former client as “the biggest asshole I’ve ever known.’’

https://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2016/12/peter-navarro-genius-or-idiot-or-neither/

So what is Navarro? Brilliant economist or idiot? Neither one. He’s someone who used to be a versatile and productive economist and is now a China-obsessed fanatic2 willing to say anything for the chance of a job in the Trump administration. He hasn’t lost 50 IQ points, he’s merely become so fixated on the dangers of Chinese trade that he no longer cares about economics. He cares only about saying things that might build support for his preferred policies, regardless of whether they’re true.

In other words, he’s now just another dime-a-dozen political hack. Trump will keep him around as long as his PhD is useful and then toss him aside.

https://www.facebook.com/andyborowitz/photos/let-me-choose-my-words-carefully-peter-navarro-is-a-fucking-idiot/10159135538845681/

Let me choose my words carefully: Peter Navarro is a fucking idiot.

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/6/3/2102154/community/A-whiny-Peter-Navarro-complains-to-a-judge-that-his-arrest-by-the-FBI-hurt-his-feelings/

“Dubbed “Trump’s looniest economic adviser” by the Wall Street-focused Dealbreaker, Navarro is an academic who famously made up a fake expert to quote in his books. A five-time failed political candidate in San Diego, Navarro is widely known there “as a nut,” says one veteran California GOP political consultant. Navarro’s views on trade are considered so fringy that, for years, reporters covering him have been trying unsuccessfully to find a credible source who may agree with him.”

Most people who know Navarro despise him. In an article by the Washington Post — based on the observations of 28 Trump administration staffers — Navarro is ripped for being a bad-tempered, incompetent asshole. His performance was so bad that in 2018 John Kelly, then chief of staff, ordered an investigation of his workplace conduct.

His performance was so dismal the SEC investigated his award of a $765 million federal loan to fund the launch of a new pharmaceutical division at Kodak – a company with no pharmaceutical experience.

And the Democrats on a House Oversight and Reform subcommittee concluded that Navarro was responsible for wasting more than $500 million by overpaying for ventilators manufactured by Philips. Navarro agreed to pay almost five times more per unit than the Obama administration had, accepting the manufacturer’s opening bid without bargaining.

Seinan Sensei

(1,661 posts)

8. Peter Navarro a.k.a. Ron Vara

Reply to BootinUp (Original post)

Thu May 28, 2026, 11:03 AM

Thursday

White House “official” whose resume includes being imprisoned four months for contempt-of-Congress

2na fisherman

(371 posts)

9. Man With An Alias Must Have Lots To Hide

Reply to BootinUp (Original post)

Thu May 28, 2026, 11:32 AM

Thursday

But his true colors are appearing now. Peter Navarro will do or say anything to promote and enrich himself. He once ran for mayor of San Diego as a Democrat. I hate to admit I voted for him but he fooled me with his economics professor credentials and his chameleon party affiliation...Democrat, Independent and Republican. This has taught me to look deeper into a candidate's history in making my voting decisions. He fraudulently quoted a fictional economics expert he invented called Ron Vara in support of his wacky economics theories. It's not surprising that someone so intellectually dishonest and morally bankrupt is helping the Trump family commit such self-dealing and likely criminal acts. He spent four months in jail for Contempt Of Congress for refusing a subpoena regarding his role in the attempted overturning of the 2020 presidential election. And the chances are good that he will return to jail as his corruption becomes the subject of investigations by a new administration.

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