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Trump’s Trade Adviser Has an Imaginary Friend

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Peter Navarro, President Trump’s top trade adviser, has quoted staunch China hawk “Ron Vara” more than a dozen times in at least six of his books, the Chronicle of Higher Education reports.

However, it turns out that Ron Vara — which is an anagram of Navarro — doesn’t actually exist.

When asked about his source, Navarro declined to speak on the record, but he did send a statement in which he called Ron Vara a “whimsical device and pen name I’ve used throughout the years for opinions and purely entertainment value, not as a source of fact.”

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About Political Wire

goddard-bw-snapshotTaegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

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