Trump Lied to Get on Forbes 400 List, a Former Forbes Reporter Claims

A former Forbes reporter claims that Donald Trump, before he was president, pretended to be a Trump Organization executive speaking on Trump’s behalf and then lied about his wealth in order to crack the Forbes 400 list.

He said that Trump figured out what he had to do in order to deceive him and get onto that list. Trump did so very well, and he maintained that persona of talking about the company’s assets without any sense of debt and lying about it. Jonathan Greenberg said all this in an interview Friday on CNN’s New Day.

Donald Trump appeared in Forbes 400 due to a lie, according to Greenburg

Greenberg broke the news in a Washington Post story. He claimed that Trump called him when he was compiling the richest American people magazine list in the 80s. He recalled how Trump posed as John Barron, an executive of The Trump Organization. Greenberg said Trump’s actual net worth at the time as a real-estate developer was less than $5 million, though the magazine had listed it as $100 million for its first-ever Forbes 400 list.

Why Speak Now?

Greenberg said that Trump should have never gone near that list. He also provided an audio recording of a phone call between him and Barron that he recently showed to CNN. Greenberg told CNN that Trump, as Barron, lied in saying Trump owned all of his father Fred’s assets, which he did not until his father died in 1999.

He also revealed that May 17, 1984, call they received from Barron came after Forbes released the top 400 list and included Trump’s holdings at $200 million in its previous edition.

Trump is the first billionaire to have become US president

Trump, posing as Barron could be heard in the recording saying the majority of the assets were consolidated to him. He also asked he talked to Greenberg off the record to make it easier for the reporter. He further states he really thinks that Greenberg can use Mr. Trump on his list.

The Recorded Conversation

Greenberger also revealed that he decided to publish the said conversation to clear his conscience after bearing this burden for a long time. CNN has reached out to the White House for comment. The Washington Post tried to reach out to the people and agencies involved, but the White House and Trump Organization declined to comment on the said issue as of this writing.

A similar recording of a man who sounds like Trump posing as his spokesman surfaced during the 2016 campaign. The former Forbes reporter revealed that Trump made routine calls to reporters in 1970’s, 80’s, and 90’s posing either as John Barron or John Miller and claiming that he was a publicist for Trump.

While many real-estate developers wouldn’t be caught within ten feet of that list, Trump embraced it and repeatedly contacted the reporter to suggest that he may not have all the facts and was undervaluing Trump’s wealth. Trump has repeatedly declined to publicly share his tax returns. Currently, he claims to have a net worth of well over 10 billion dollars, despite the fact that he filed for an extension to file his 2017 taxes.

Did He Really Lie?

Trump promised his supporters that he would “make America great again” during the 2016 campaign period

It has been well over 30 years since the first Forbes 400 back in 1982. It will take some time, and many digging around in order to get to the bottom of this mystery, and truly uncover the truth.

But, if it was true, what does this mean to the people of the US? If the allegations were to be proven, people would see that Trump is not above lies and deception in order for people to perceive him differently than he actually is. Most people will then start having second thoughts about his promises during the presidential election. Because, let’s face it; if he did it once, he could do it again.