Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
, an American businessman, politician, and 45th
president of the United States
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...
, has used several pseudonyms, including "John Barron" (or "John Baron"), "John Miller" and "David Dennison". His practice of sometimes speaking to the media under the guise of a spokesperson has been described as "an open secret" at
the Trump Organization
The Trump Organization is a group of about 500 business entities of which Donald Trump is the sole or principal owner. Around 250 of these entities use the Trump name. The organization was founded in 1927 by Donald Trump's paternal grandmother ...
and in New York media circles.
Background
A writer for ''
Fortune
Fortune may refer to:
General
* Fortuna or Fortune, the Roman goddess of luck
* Luck
* Wealth
* Fortune, a prediction made in fortune-telling
* Fortune, in a fortune cookie
Arts and entertainment Film and television
* ''The Fortune'' (1931 film) ...
'' reported that Trump's father,
Fred Trump
Frederick Christ Trump Sr. (October 11, 1905 – June 25, 1999) was an American real estate developer and businessman. A member of the Trump family, he was the father of Donald Trump, the 45th president of the United States.
In partnership w ...
, had used the pseudonym Mr. Green in business dealings.
"John Barron" (1980s)
Trump used the pseudonym "John Barron" (sometimes "John Baron") throughout the 1980s, with its earliest known usage in 1980 and its last acknowledgment in 1990. According to ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'', the name was a "go-to alias when
rump
Rump may refer to:
* Rump (animal)
** Buttocks
* Rump steak, slightly different cuts of meat in Britain and America
* Rump kernel, software run in userspace that offers kernel functionality in NetBSD
Politics
*Rump cabinet
* Rump legislature
* Ru ...
was under scrutiny, in need of a tough front man or otherwise wanting to convey a message without attaching his own name to it."
Barron would be introduced as a spokesperson for Trump.
The pseudonym first appeared in a May 7, 1980 article where "John Barron, vice president of Trump Organization" spawned rumors of a $1 billion deal to buy the
World Trade Center
World Trade Centers are sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association.
World Trade Center may refer to:
Buildings
* List of World Trade Centers
* World Trade Center (2001–present), a building complex that includes five skyscrapers, a ...
: "I don't know if it's going to happen or not, but it is a possibility". In a June 6, 1980 ''
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' article, "Barron" defended Trump's controversial destruction of sculptures on the Bonwit Teller flagship store (now the site of
Trump Tower
Trump Tower is a 58-story, mixed-use skyscraper at 721–725 Fifth Avenue in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, between East 56th and 57th Streets. The building contains the headquarters for the Trump Organization, as well ...
) that he had promised to the
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
. The pseudonymous vice president acted as Trump's spokesperson for three days in that case.
Trump continued to pose as "Barron" on occasion for the rest of the decade. In 1983, "Barron" told the press that Trump had decided not to purchase the
Cleveland Indians
The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...
.
In May 1984, "Barron" lied to then-''
Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...
'' reporter Jonathan Greenberg about Trump's wealth and assets to get Trump on the
Forbes 400
The ''Forbes'' 400 or 400 Richest Americans is a list published by ''Forbes'' magazine of the wealthiest 400 American citizens who own assets in the U.S., ranked by net worth. The 400 was started by Malcolm Forbes in 1982 and the list is publ ...
list. "Barron" stated to Greenberg that "
st of the assets [of Donald's father
Fred Trump
Frederick Christ Trump Sr. (October 11, 1905 – June 25, 1999) was an American real estate developer and businessman. A member of the Trump family, he was the father of Donald Trump, the 45th president of the United States.
In partnership w ...
] have been consolidated to Mr. [Donald] Trump." In April 2018, Greenberg retrieved and made public the original audio recordings of his exchange with "Barron", and stated that "Trump, through this [Barron] sockpuppet, was telling me he owned 'in excess of 90 percent of Fred Trump's assets. Ultimately, Greenberg included Trump at the end of the Forbes 400 list at $100 million, one fifth of the $500 million which "Barron" was claiming as Donald Trump's net worth. According to Greenberg, Donald Trump was only ever worth just under $5 million, which was 5% of the net worth which was attributed to him by ''Forbes'' at the time and only 1% of what "Barron" was claiming. Greenberg has corrected the record by stating that, as revealed in court documents in proceedings years later, Donald Trump never owned any of Fred Trump's assets until 1999 after Fred's death, and even then, inheriting only his share of Fred's deceased estate, with Donald Trump's three siblings and some grandchildren beneficiaries inheriting their corresponding shares.
Also in 1984, "Barron" gave the press a positive spin on the 1984 collapse of a plan to build Trump Castle in New York.
In 1985, "Barron" urged fellow
United States Football League
The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...
team owners to partially reimburse Trump for a high-priced player. In April 1985, "John Baron, a vice president in the Trump Organization," announced to the press that the Trump Organization had signed an agreement to buy an unopened Hilton Hotel in Atlantic City.
Some New York editors recalled that "calls from Barron were at points so common that they became a recurring joke on the city desk."
Trump stopped using the pseudonym after he was compelled to
testify
In law and in religion, testimony is a solemn attestation as to the truth of a matter.
Etymology
The words "testimony" and "testify" both derive from the Latin word ''testis'', referring to the notion of a disinterested third-party witness.
La ...
in court proceedings that John Barron was one of his pseudonyms. ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' suggested that Trump might have used the pseudonym longer if not for the "lawsuit in which he testified, under oath in 1990, that 'I believe on occasion I used that name.
"John Miller" (1991)
In 1991, a reporter for ''
People
A person (plural, : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of pr ...
'' attempted to interview Trump about the end of his marriage to
Ivana Trump
Ivana Marie Trump (, ; February 20, 1949 – July 14, 2022) was a Czech-American businesswoman, media personality, socialite, fashion designer, author, and model. Ivana lived in Canada in the 1970s before relocating to the United States and m ...
and his rumored association with other women. She was called back by a publicist who gave his name as "John Miller", who gave her a long interview about Trump's marital affairs ("He's a good guy, and he's not going to hurt anybody. ... He treated his wife well and ... he will treat Marla well."), his attractiveness to women, and his wealth. The reporter thought at the time that "Miller" sounded remarkably like Trump, and played the tape to several people who knew Trump and agreed it was Trump.
She says Trump later told her it was a "joke gone awry".
Trump denied that he posed as John Miller to tell ''People'', "
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__"Carolin_Gallego"_(1992)_
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__"Carolin_Gallego"_(1992)_
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New_York_most_commonly_refers_to:
*_New_York_City,_the_most_populous_city_in_the_United_States,_located_in_the_state_of_New_York
*_New_York_(state),_a_state_in_the_northeastern_United_States
New_York_may_also_refer_to:
_Film_and_television
*__''_...
''_magazine_signed_by_"Carolin_Gallego"_replied_to_an_article_by_Julie_Baumgold._The_letter_asserted_that_"as_his_secretary"_she_knew_Trump_to_treat_women_with_respect._This_letter_resurfaced_in_a_2017_article_in_the_''
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In_2016,_''The_Washington_Post''_obtained_a_copy_of_the_tape_and_reported_that_it_was_Trump_using_a_pseudonym._Trump_denied_it,_saying,_"It_was_not_me_on_the_phone."_Later,_when_a_reporter_asked_Trump_if_he_had_ever_employed_a_spokesperson_named_John_Miller,_he_hung_up.
__"Carolin_Gallego"_(1992)_
A_1992_letter_to_''New_York_(magazine)">New_York_
New_York_most_commonly_refers_to:
*_New_York_City,_the_most_populous_city_in_the_United_States,_located_in_the_state_of_New_York
*_New_York_(state),_a_state_in_the_northeastern_United_States
New_York_may_also_refer_to:
_Film_and_television
*__''_...
''_magazine_signed_by_"Carolin_Gallego"_replied_to_an_article_by_Julie_Baumgold._The_letter_asserted_that_"as_his_secretary"_she_knew_Trump_to_treat_women_with_respect._This_letter_resurfaced_in_a_2017_article_in_the_''Washingtonian_(magazine)">Washingtonian''_which_highlighted_similarities_between_patterns_of_repetition_in_Trump's_speech_and_the_final_line_in_the_letter,_which_read:_"I_do_not_believe_any_man_in_America_gets_more_calls_from_women_wanting_to_see_him,_meet_him,_or_go_out_with_him._The_most_beautiful_women,_the_most_successful_women—all_women_love_Donald_Trump."_The_''Washingtonian''_was_unable_to_find_any_record_of_a_Carolin_Gallego_as_secretary_to_Trump_and_said_that_it_was_not_out_of_the_question_that_Trump_himself_had_written_the_letter.
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In 2016, ''The Washington Post'' obtained a copy of the tape and reported that it was Trump using a pseudonym. Trump denied it, saying, "It was not me on the phone." Later, when a reporter asked Trump if he had ever employed a spokesperson named John Miller, he hung up.