On September 26, 2016, in the first of three debates with Hillary Clinton, Trump retorted to a claim that he paid no taxes by replying, “that makes me smart.”
Even after the election, Trump claimed he was withholding his tax returns from the public because he was under audit. However, in 2019, he sued to keep them being being obtained.
In September 2020, it was revealed that he paid a total of $750 in taxes for that year.
After taking the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, or MoCA, Trump claimed that his doctors were “very surprised” at the results of his test, which he said he “aced.” However, the White House has not released any details about the results of the exam.
In a July 19, 2020 Fox News interview with Chris Wallace, Trump also challenged Biden to take the exam. He said that the questions “get very hard,” and didn’t think Wallace would be able to answer them.
However, the creators of the exam have themselves described it as simple, intended only to test basic cognitive function rather than as any measure of intelligence. The one-page test can be easily found online.
In 2016, audio resurfaced of a phone call to the media by John Miller, who claimed to be Trump’s publicists. It was noted, however, that his voice and speech patterns closely resembled those of Trump himself.
In the call, Miller said Trump was doing “tremendously well financially,” and despite there being several famous women who wanted to date him, including Carla Bruni and Madonna, “he treated his wife well and…he will treat Marla well.” Marla Maples was Trump’s second wife before their divorce and his marriage with Melania.
Trump has also accused of using another pseudonym, John Barron, to speak about himself to the media. Calling himself “vice-president of the Trump organization,” the name John Barron is first noted in the defense of Trump’s decision to destroy sculptures on the facade of a Manhattan building that was demolished for the construction of Trump Tower. Michael D’Antonio, the biographer to whom Trump said his temperament remained unchained since the first grade, noted that “John Barron was a way for Trump to talk himself up.” Trump later named his fifth child with third wife Melania “Barron.”
Trump vehemently denied the claims, saying in a Today interview. “It doesn’t sound like me on the phone, I will tell you that. And it was not me on the phone.” However, in a 1990 court case Trump testified, “I believe on occasion I used that name.”
In a 1992 issue of New York Magazine, a letter was published in defense of Donald Trump and his relationship with women.
Based on the fact that I work for Donald Trump as his secretary—and therefore know him well—I think he treats women with great respect, contrary to what Julie Baumgold implied in her article … 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.
Carolin Gallego December 7, 1992
No record of a Carolin Gallego in the employ of Trump has been found, and longtime Trump lawyer Michael Cohen said he’d never heard of her. The similarity between the letter and Trump’s own speech pattern has been noted by journalists and commentators.
At the United Nations General Assembly, Trump drew laughter after saying “my administration has accomplished more than almost any administration in the history of our country.” After, he remarked, “Didn’t expect that reaction, but that’s okay.”
Trump made the claim immediately after his inauguration. All evidence pointed to the contrary. Sean Spicer defended the claim the day after, as well as other unfounded claims about voter fraud.
Trump justified a strike on a senior Iranian official and escalated tensions by claiming that he represented an imminent threat, possibly targeting up to four US embassies. At a briefing for Congressional representatives those present reported that they weren’t given any meaningful information, despite asking multiple times about the nature of the imminent threat. Republican Senator Mike Lee of Utah described it as “the worst briefing” he’d ever seen on a military issue.
When asked about this, Trump in typical fashion replied some people said that it actually the “best presentation they’ve ever seen.” He provided little further information on the nature of the imminent threat.
Trump explained that he didn’t need to prepare much for an upcoming summit with North Korea in Singapore, a first between the two nations. Instead, he explained that it was all about “attitude.”
He also said that he didn’t need notes from the meeting, due to having “one of the great memories of all time,” a claim Trump has repeated elsewhere.
