On Thursday, Donald Trump got into a Twitter fight with an actual Saudi prince, Alwaleed bin Talal. This is not a drill.
Donald Trump’s ridiculous Twitter beef with a Saudi prince, explained
Zack Beauchamp is a senior correspondent at Vox, where he covers ideology and challenges to democracy, both at home and abroad. His book on democracy, The Reactionary Spirit, was published 0n July 16. You can purchase it here.
Here is the story of that fight — which grew, in its most recent manifestation, out of Trump’s ongoing feud with Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly and his decision to skip the Fox News debate on Thursday, but actually has a longer history.
Yes, the fight was on Twitter
Thursday morning, Donald Trump retweeted a meme from one of his supporters attacking Fox News for having ties to Saudi Arabia. It mostly speaks for itself:
"@BradCross4: @Drudge_Report_ @realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/Ur1qgG291Z"
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 28, 2016
It’s worth noting that this photo is not real: It photoshops Kelly into a picture with Saudi-looking people. Prince Alwaleed’s investment firm, Kingdom Holding Company, does own a stake in Fox News’s parent company, worth about 6.6 percent of the company.
Thursday afternoon, Alwaleed shot back, seemingly peeved that Trump was involving the Saudis in his feud with Fox:
Trump:You base your statements on photoshopped pics?I bailed you out twice;a 3rd time,maybe? https://t.co/Raco0mvusp https://t.co/jStBl7Ghia
— الوليد بن طلال (@Alwaleed_Talal) January 28, 2016
It appears that Alwaleed really has bailed Trump out twice, by purchasing Trump assets. In 1991, Trump had racked up $900 million in debts. He ceded his yacht — a former James Bond prop known as the Trump Princess — to creditors. Alwaleed then purchased it for $281 million, effectively paying Trump’s creditors for him.
As part of the same bankruptcy, Trump was forced to sell the ritzy Plaza Hotel in New York. In 1995, the banks that took it from Trump sold it to Alwaleed and a group of Singaporean investors.
Trump told the New York Times that Alwaleed “paid too much for the hotel. He wanted that hotel so badly, and I put him through the wringer and made a great deal.”
“Of course,” the Times notes, “it cost the Saudi-Singapore partnership $75 million less than Mr. Trump had spent for the same building seven years earlier.”
“Dopey Prince @Alwaleed_Talal”
This is not the first time that Trump and the Saudi prince have clashed on Twitter. After Trump proposed his plan to ban Muslims from the United States in December, Alwaleed took offense:
.@realDonaldTrump You are a disgrace not only to the GOP but to all America. Withdraw from the U.S presidential race as you will never win.
— الوليد بن طلال (@Alwaleed_Talal) December 11, 2015
Trump, characteristically, shot back:
Dopey Prince @Alwaleed_Talal wants to control our U.S. politicians with daddy’s money. Can’t do it when I get elected. #Trump2016
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 12, 2015
The irony of this, of course, is that Donald Trump started out rich as well — and had help from his own “daddy’s money.”
