Reporter: Trump Lied to Me to Get on Forbes 400 List
TAPPER: An explosive new claim now designed to hit the president where it hurts, his wallet or at least what he wants to think is in his wallet. A former financial reporter for "Forbes" magazine saying that, years ago, the president repeatedly lied about the scope of his personal fortune and a charge that the reporter is backing up with newly discovered tapes that he claims are of Donald Trump himself. CNN's Alex Marquardt joins me now with more. And, Alex, it's the return of the president's apparent alter ego John Barron whom as far as I could tell no one has ever actually met in person and who sounds mysteriously, coincidentally I'm sure, like Donald Trump.</s>ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, he is back and that's right, Jake. John Barron who first appeared in the early '80s on these new recordings and conversation with the then-Forbes reporter Jonathan Greenberg. Greenberg now helped launched the Forbes 400 list, researching the net worths of the wealthiest Americans and in these tapes, you could hear Trump and Barron trying to convince Greenberg that his wealth was far greater than it was believed to be, raising yet more questions about the president's casual relationship with the truth.</s>JONATHAN GREENBERG: OK, what's your first name by the way. "</s>JOHN BARRON": John.</s>GREENBERG: John. "</s>BARRON: John Barron.</s>MARQUARDT (voice-over): John Barron, one of the aliases President Trump has been accused of using over the years to speak with reporters glowingly about himself. "</s>BARRON": Most of the assets have been consolidated to Mr. Trump, you know, because you have down Fred Trump.</s>MARQUARDT: In this call from 1984, so-called "Barron" is claiming that the assets of Trump's wealthy father Fred are in fact his. So, he deserved a higher spot in the famous Forbes 400 list. "</s>BARRON": And it's been pretty well-consolidated, OK? So, that's one point that you could --</s>GREENBERG: Now, is that just the -- is that including the residential units? "</s>BARRON": Yes, everything's been consolidated basically now, and over the last couple of years have been working on it.</s>MARQUARDT: Trump as himself was in regular contact with former "Forbes" reporter Jonathan Greenberg, repeatedly arguing for a better ranking.</s>DONALD TRUMP: And then you mentioned other names and there's no contest. You know, I mean, there is no contest.</s>MARQUARDT: Greenberg didn't take Trump at his words and "Forbes" decided to list Trump at $100 million, much lower than his stated value. Greenberg said later research showed he was worth under $5 million at the time and didn't belong anywhere near the list.</s>JONATHAN GREENBERG, CONTRIBUTING WRITER, THE WASHINGTON POST: He is a consummate con man. He figured out what he to do in order to deceive me and get on to that list. And he did it very well. And he maintained that persona of just sort of talking about his assets without any sense of debt and lying about it --</s>MARQUARDT: Greenberg said he's only reporting this now because he recently came across these tapes from the mid-80s. He alleges that Trump repeatedly inflated his wealth by dramatically exaggerating the value and number of his properties.</s>GREENBERG: He lied about -- there were 25,000 apartments in Brooklyn and Queens and there were 8,000 apartments in Brooklyn and Queens. He lied about his father, that he owned all of his father's assets and he borrowed against his father's assets.</s>MARQUARDT: Trump has long denied that he's John Barron or another alleged alias John Miller who would call gossip reporters. "</s>JOHN MILLER": By the way, I'm sort of new here. And I'm --</s>SUE CARSWELL: What is your position there? "</s>MILLER": Well, I'm sort of handling P.R. because he gets so much of it.</s>TRUMP: This doesn't sound like me, though, really. You know, you think that sounded like me?</s>JIMMY KIMMEL, LATE NIGHT TV HOST: Yes.</s>TRUMP: I don't.</s>MARQUARDT: But then --</s>TRUMP: Over the years, I've used alias. If you're trying to buy land you use different names.</s>KIMMEL: What name do you use?</s>TRUMP: I would use, I actually used the name Barron.</s>MARQUARDT: Barron, there it is. Not just a name he liked for an alias but, of course, for his youngest child as well, naming his son Barron. Now, except for a five-year period in the '90s, Trump has actually stayed on the Forbes 400 list, but often with figures well below what he claimed to be worth. During the 2016 campaign, Trump said repeatedly he was worth some $10 billion, something that, of course, can't be checked because we still haven't seen his tax returns. We have reached out to the White House but have not heard back, and the Trump Organization says they have no comment -- Jake.</s>TAPPER: They wouldn't even put John Barron on the phone. Alex Marquardt, thanks so much. In one moment, the president calls him Lyin' Comey. The next minute, President Trump is relying on Comey's own words. Which is it? The White House weighs in on all of today's news, next.