This Trump adviser made up a fake economist and everyone is baffled

Trump is well-known for his "alternative facts", but most people hoped at least his advisers would keep him in check with actual reality.

Worryingly though, it seems that Peter Navarro, his top trade adviser, is cut from the same cloth.

Turns out that one of the main economic experts quoted in Navarro's books is actually a made-up character named Ron Vara - a pretty obvious anagram for 'Navarro'.

According to The Chronicle Review, Navarro has quoted "Vara" a dozen or so times in six books, and credits him as a Harvard economist and investor.

It seems that Ron Vara's key characteristic is an apocalyptic view of China's impact of the global economy, which - unsurprisingly - Navarro largely shares.

Many pointed out that this isn't the first time someone in the administration has been caught calling upon imaginary friends for the purposes of furthering their own agenda.

While others just marvelled at the absurdity of it all.

In a statement to The Chronicle Review, Navarro admitted that the economist was a “whimsical pen name.” He said:

[It is a] whimsical device and pen name I’ve used throughout the years for opinions and purely entertainment value, not as a source of fact.

Right.

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