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Former President Donald Trump has called a Forbes editor a "psycho" after the magazine claimed to have exposed Trump's lies about the size of his New York office buildings.
He also accused the magazine of cooperating with the ongoing fraud trial taken against him by "racist and incompetent" New York Attorney General Letitia James.
"I hereby demand a full apology from the failing Forbes Magazine, and their third-rate psycho writer, Dan Alexander, for the many false and libelous articles they have written about me, and for the cooperation they have given to the Racist and Incompetent A.G. of New York State, Peekaboo James," Trump wrote on the social media site, Truth Social.
There has been much media speculation about Trump's ongoing use of the term "Peekaboo" to describe James, with some wondering if it is an oblique reference to the racial slur "Jigaboo."
In his Truth Social post, Trump went on to describe Forbes as being "owned by the Communist Chinese Government, and China will do anything to stop MAGA. Forbes, a Globalist 'Rag,' is a propaganda play against TRUMP."
Last week, Alexander published an update on Trump's wealth, in which he said the former president is "nowhere near as rich as he boasts, nor as poor as some critics claim," placing his net worth at $2.6 billion.
On Wednesday, James' civil fraud trial against the Trump Organization heard evidence from Allen Weisselberg, the Trump Organization's former chief financial officer, who said Trump's apartment in Trump Tower measured some 10,000 square feet —not 30,000 square feet as suggested by Trump's financial records.
That followed a 2017 Forbes inquiry about the triplex's size, which referenced a document from October 1994 in which Trump said the penthouse measured 10,996 square feet.
In late September, Alexander said in a lengthy article about Trump's finances that: "New York state is suing Donald Trump and his business for engaging in financial fraud. Forbes has documents and a recording of Trump talking about 40 Wall Street, the first property cited in the attorney general's press conference, that seem to back up her claims."
It noted: "Two Forbes journalists received subpoenas last year from the Manhattan district attorney and had to testify before a grand jury to confirm information in two articles detailing Trump's shenanigans" —which appears to back Trump's claims that Forbes has been cooperating with an investigation into his finances.
It also noted: "Forbes, however, has records those prosecutors do not, including notes from interviews over the years and a 2015 audio recording that places Trump smack in the center of the alleged deceit."
Alexander's article also admitted that Forbes, along with insurance and financial companies, had been "duped" by Trump's "puffed up" property evaluations.
Newsweek has sought email comment from Forbes, James and Trump's legal team.
A Forbes spokesperson said that the publication stood by its reporting and highlighted a post that Alexander published on X, formerly Twitter, in response to Trump's comment.
Alexander, who wrote a book about Trump's finances, posted: "Hey Donald Trump, if you want to point out a single false fact in any of the articles I've published about you—or in the book I wrote about you—feel free. In the meantime, I'm going to keep reporting—and carefully fact-checking every word I publish."
Update 10/11/23 12.54 p.m ET: This article was updated to include statements from Forbes and Dan Alexander
About the writer
Sean O'Driscoll is a Newsweek Senior Crime and Courts Reporter based in Ireland. His focus is reporting on U.S. law. ... Read more