New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Luxon is denying a rift with his deputy Winston Peters, despite several days of direct and indirect criticism from his rabble-rousing foreign minister.
In one of the most significant coalition spats of this term of government, Mr Luxon and Mr Peters are at odds on how to approach the trade crunch brought on by US President Donald Trump.
Mr Luxon has responded by hitting the phones, making calls to the leaders of Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore, Philippines, Ireland and the EU to discuss a collective response to the tariff threat.
Mr Peters - left out of the loop - was instantly critical, saying those calls were "very premature".
"What would you talk about (with other leaders)? What's the tariff regime going to be in the end? Do we know what that's going to be? No ... wait until we see what emerges with the tariff war that's going on," he said.
A day later, while travelling with a Kiwi delegation in Tonga, Mr Peters said "I hope that he'll get my message and he'll call me next time".
And after landing in Hawaii to continue his Pacific mission, the 80-year-old gave a speech at the East-West Center with a paragraph that appeared designed specifically for Mr Luxon's ears.
"The use of military language – of a 'trade war', of the need to 'fight', of the imperative to form alliances in order to oppose the actions of one country – has at times come across as hysterical and short-sighted," he said, using two terms Mr Luxon had deployed in earlier comments.
Asked about the criticism on Monday, Mr Luxon called it a "a real media beat-up".
"We're fully aligned," he told Newstalk ZB.
Mr Luxon said his calls were valuable as they created opportunities to collaborate further on trade, while ensuring further "tit-for-tat tariffs" didn't emerge between the key trading blocs of the EU, CPTPP and ASEAN.
The unedifying debate between the government's two most senior figures is a byproduct of political tensions within the three-party coalition.
Mr Luxon leads the centre-right National party, the biggest party in government, and Mr Peters is at the helm of the smallest: the populist and increasingly right-wing New Zealand First party, which he created in 1993.
Mr Peters is increasingly occupying the positions and language of US President Donald Trump's campaign, including "Make New Zealand Great Again" and a war on "woke".
While he has not revealed the rationale for his very public display of intransigence, it could be an effort to protect his alignment with the US administration which has levied the tariffs.
Adding further intrigue, Mr Peters comments come as he prepares to hand over his deputy prime minister position next month as part of a negotiated job-share.
David Seymour, the leader of the third party in the coalition, the ACT party, replaces Mr Peters at the end of May, leading some commentators to suggest Mr Peters is agitating to send Mr Luxon a reminder of his importance.
Mr Peters did the same last month in action and words when he sacked NZ High Commissioner to the UK, Phil Goff, for criticising Mr Trump.
Asked why he failed to consult the prime minister, he said, "I know he's the prime minister. I made him the prime minister".
