President Trump's claim that the 1913 income tax caused the Great Depression is inaccurate, according to historical analysis. The income tax's origins were a complex, decades-long struggle involving wealthy interests' opposition and populist support. Its enactment followed a failed 1894 attempt and a Supreme Court rejection. Ultimately, a constitutional amendment and political maneuvering led to its passage. Furthermore, the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930, which significantly raised tariffs, worsened the Great Depression, contradicting Trump's assertion that tariffs would have prevented it. The article highlights parallels between the current economic inequality and that of the Gilded Age.