UPDATE: TIME demands Trump take down fake news displays at his resorts, golf clubs
It turns out realty mogul Donald Trump knows a few things about fake news – he uses it on his properties!
The framed copy of TIME magazine was hung up in at least five of President Trump’s clubs, from South Florida to Scotland. Filling the entire cover was a photo of Donald Trump.
“Donald Trump: The ‘Apprentice’ is a television smash!” the big headline said. Above the Time nameplate, there was another headline in all caps: “TRUMP IS HITTING ON ALL FRONTS . . . EVEN TV!”
This cover — dated March 1, 2009 — looks like an impressive memento from Trump’s pre-presidential career. To club members eating lunch, or golfers waiting for a pro-shop purchase, it seemed to be a signal that Trump had always been a man who mattered. Even when he was just a reality TV star, Trump was the kind of star who got a cover story in TIME.
But that wasn’t true.
The TIME cover is a fake.
There was no March 1, 2009, issue of TIME magazine. And there was no issue at all in 2009 that had Trump on the cover.
Someone in the White House press corps should take up the matter with Sarah Huckabee Sanders – that is, when she’s not busy promoting alleged “news” outlets such as Breitbart and FOX while bad-mouthing actual journalism.
UPDATE: TIME has read Trump the riot act:
TIME magazine has asked the Trump Organization to remove a number of issues featuring President Donald Trump from its golf clubs after they were proven to be fakes.
At least four of President Trump’s clubs were found to have displayed framed copies of a TIME magazine dated March 1, 2009 and featuring Donald Trump as its cover star. However, the Washington Post has revealed that there was no issue released on that date. Indeed, the then-business tycoon failed to appear on the cover of any 2009 issue of the magazine.
The official edition for that week was instead released on March 2, 2009 and paid homage to Kate Winslet and her Oscar success in “The Reader”.
“I can confirm that this is not a real TIME cover,” a TIME spokesperson told CNBC via email.
TIME magazine has since requested the Trump Organization to remove all fake copies from display.
