Did you know the trade war between the United States and China started with an Amazon search?

In 2016, Trump told his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, ?Find me someone who knows how to punish China economically.? Kushner went on Amazon, typed ?China,? and found the book Death by China by Peter Navarro. The title caught his eye, so he reached out to the author. Navarro, a little-known professor at the time, replied with hardline ideas: ?China is destroying the American economy?we need to respond with tariffs.? Kushner connected him with Trump, and Trump was hooked. Navarro joined the campaign, and later, the administration.

But here?s the weirdest part: Navarro often quoted an expert named Ron Vara in books, emails, and interviews?but Ron Vara didn?t exist. He was a fictional character Navarro had invented. His name is actually an anagram of ?Navarro.? Why did he use him? To give his ideas more weight, as if other experts agreed with him.

Thanks to Navarro and his imaginary friend, Trump imposed tariffs on hundreds of Chinese products. It all started with a search on Amazon?and ended up shaking the global economy.