Donald Trump's tariff plans based on a fictional economist? Here's what we know

Trump's adviser Elon Musk, who never minces his words, has openly criticised Navarro, going to the extent of calling him 'dumber than a sack of bricks'.

US President Donald Trump has sent shockwaves across the global economy after he introduced sweeping tariffs on all countries the US does business with.

The centre of his wrath has been China, upon whom the Republican has slammed 104 per cent tariffs.

Trump's move has even put some lawmakers from his own party—who backed him on his assault on DEI, shutting of USAID, and other such policies—against him.

On a recent show on MSNBC, host Rachel Maddow has revealed that Trump based his decision on advice from Peter Navarro, an economic advisor he had hired during his campaign for his first term as President.

Maddow quotes media reports to reveal that Trump had given his son-in-law Jared Kushner a brief on his views on the economy, and asked Kushner to find him an adviser.

Kushner then reportedly went on Amazon, was struck by the title of a book—Death by China—and decided to hire its writer, Navarro, as an adviser to the US President.

It was Navarro who reportedly put forward his pro-tariff ideas to Trump, and based his stance on an expert economist called Ron Vara.

But who is Ron Vara? Actually, this expert is completely made up, and all the ideas attributed to this expert is Navarro's. It would appear he is Ron Vara—an anagram of Navarro - his last name.

Notably, another of Trump's advisors, Elon Musk, who never minces his words, has openly criticised Navarro, going to the extent of calling him "dumber than a sack of bricks".

Musk and long-time Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro have been squabbling publicly over Trump's decision to impose sweeping tariffs on most of its trading partners.

Navarro on Monday on CNBC had dismissed a push by billionaire and Tesla CEO Musk for "zero tariffs" between the United States and Europe, calling him a "car assembler" reliant on imported parts, and said he wanted the parts to be manufactured locally in the U.S.

"Navarro is truly a moron. What he says here is demonstrably false," Musk said in a post on X in a response to a video clip of Navarro's interview. "Tesla has the most American-made cars. Navarro is dumber than a sack of bricks."

Asked about the dust-up between the advisers, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said the public nature of the spat was evidence of the Trump administration's transparency and Trump's willingness to listen to diverse opinions.

(With Reuters inputs)