Navarro ‘confident’ Trump executive actions ‘will stand up’ in court

White House trade adviser Peter Navarro on Sunday said the White House is confident President Trump’s coronavirus executive actions will stand up to legal challenges.

“I’m confident every single one of those orders, which cleared through the Office of Legal Counsel, will stand up,” Navarro said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

{mosads}“If you look at the eviction and foreclosure language, [it contains] the words ‘shall consider,’ that’s how you have to write it but everybody knows in that bureaucracy you damn well should do it and they will,” Navarro continued. “The payroll tax cut, you clearly have the authority to do that, that can be done easily through the Treasury Department.”

Navarro also accused House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) of undermining the congressional negotiations over coronavirus relief with her public statements. Negotiations fell apart last last week.

“It doesn’t help when Speaker Pelosi goes out after every day with her scarves flying and beats the heck out of us,” he said.

The White House trade adviser presented Trump’s actions as rising above the partisan fray.

“The problem here is Capitol Hill, the swamp. The two Houses that are too far apart. The Lord and the Founding Fathers created executive orders because of partisan bickering and divided government,” he told NBC’s Chuck Todd.

Todd, however, noted that Trump has not been present at negotiations, asking why the president was “at his golf club all weekend.”

“This is the hardest working president in history. He works 24/7 in Bedminster, Mar-a-lago, the Oval Office or anywhere in between,” Navarro responded.

Navarro also claimed a “theory” exists that “Democrats would prefer to see the economy go into the tank for another 90 days because that harms the president,” adding “I hope that Capitol Hill hasn’t become that cynical.”

Navarro did not elaborate on where he had heard the theory.

“This should be easier than it is,” he added. “We’ve got two sides, one’s at $1 trillion, another’s at $3 trillion. The first thing you have to do is agree on some number in between. Once you do that, step two is figure out, within that, what you both agree on,” he said.