Trump Invents Another Hero Myth, This Time Making His Aides Sound Like Fools

<div><img src="https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/69024b93180000c69efe4992.jpeg?cache=G9PxGZWmLN&ops=scalefit_630_noupscale" alt="President Donald Trump speaks as he hosts a lunch with Republican Senators on the Rose Garden patio at the White House, Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025, in Washington. " data-caption="President Donald Trump speaks as he hosts a lunch with Republican Senators on the Rose Garden patio at the White House, Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025, in Washington. " data-credit-link-back="" data-credit="via Associated Press" />President Donald Trump speaks as he hosts a lunch with Republican Senators on the Rose Garden patio at the White House, Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025, in Washington. </div><div class="content-list-component text"><p>WASHINGTON – President Donald <a href="news/donald-trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Trump</a> has invented yet another heroic myth about himself, this time making his own aides and staff seem like ignorant fools who needed his tutoring to understand basic functions of their own agencies in collecting import taxes.</p><p>The topic of his latest entirely fictional “<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/16/politics/sir-trump-telltale-word-false">sir story</a>” is the tens of billions of dollars Americans are paying each month in new tariffs, thanks to his trade war against the world. In Trump’s telling, “his people” could not understand where the extra money was coming from.</p><p>“Our country is taking in tens of billions of dollars and trillions of dollars, actually trillions of dollars in tariffs, you know all about it. It’s been amazing. They say, ‘Why are we taking in so much money?’ Last week they found $29 billion, and they couldn’t figure out where it came from. I said, ‘Check the tariff shelf,’ and they said, ‘How did you know that’s where it