While Donald Trump has relished calling out the mainstream media as “fake news” since being elected president, the overt irony is of course that Trump is not exactly forthcoming when it comes to concepts like “truth,” and reality” himself. A perfect example of this was uncovered by the Washington Post this week, which learned that the president has kept framed Time magazine covers of himself in at least four of his golf resorts around the world — in Florida, Virginia, Ireland, and Scotland — that are as fake as the hair on his head (probably) or the orange glow of his skin (definitely).
The covers, dated March 1, 2009, display a stoic looking Trump with a headline exclaiming, “Donald Trump: The ‘Apprentice’ is a television smash!” and another in all-caps at the top that boldly proclaims, “TRUMP IS HITTING ON ALL FRONTS . . . EVEN TV!”
The main problem with the cover is that it simply never existed, as Time Inc. spokeswoman Kerri Chyka confirmed in an email to WaPo. The real issue, dated March 2, 2009, featured Kate Winslet on the cover and bizarrely the same headlines as the fake one — albeit in a more traditional placement for the magazine. The fake was also easy to spot given the thickness of the red border, which you can see in the following side-by-side comparison.
A Time Magazine with Trump on the cover hangs in his golf clubs. It’s fake. https://t.co/GbabQP5hXQ pic.twitter.com/EFTEcyasRE
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) June 27, 2017
The most baffling thing about this is that Trump actually has made the cover of Time — many, many times — although the magazine has not always portrayed him in the most positive light. In a 2016 interview Trump claimed that he had been on the cover “six for politics and I have two for real estate or whatever they put me on for,” when in fact he had only appeared on a January 1989 cover prior to getting into politics.
White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders refused to comment on the fake covers (as did the Trump Organization), and would only say in an email to WaPo, “We couldn’t comment on the decor at Trump Golf clubs one way or another.” Maybe that’s her way of saying: “Let the mystery be.”
UPDATE #1 – 5:30pm EST: The Washington Post‘s David Fahrenthold (who dug up this gem in the first place) tweets that Time has asked Team Trump to remove the fake covers from the walls of his businesses.
UPDATE: @time has asked the @realdonaldtrump's businesses to remove the phony magazine covers from their walls. https://t.co/beJXOTrevb
— David Fahrenthold (@Fahrenthold) June 27, 2017
(Via The Washington Post)