Tel Aviv, Israel — Tweets from Billionaire Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal have already delivered a knockout blow to Donald Trump’s presidential hopes, according to a Saudi newspaper.
“Knockout: Alwaweed Bin Talal caused a decline in Trump’s popularity,” said the headline, with a photoshopped picture of Trump glaring at the Saudi Royal.
‘The American people now realize that Donald Trump is irresponsible, not particularly clever, made many misguided decisions, and unless the Saudi prince came to his rescue he would end up broke,” the Sabq newsite reported. “The last thing they want is a president who would sell off everything to cover his debts.”
The article follows a second round of trash-talk between the two billionaires.
Trump started the second round Jan. 28 by retweeting an image of Fox News personality Megyn Kelly photoshopped into a picture of bin Talal and his sister.
That tweet was likely aimed at Fox, not Alwaleed. Prior to the debate, Breitbart reported that Google and Fox had invited a young, female Islamic-advocate, plus a young attractive female 1994 illegal immigrant, to pitch questions, likely aimed at Trump. The top leaders of both Google and Fox favor profit-boosting large-scale immigration. But Trump dodged the Fox News debate and instead hosted a benefit for veterans in a nearby building.
But the Saudi responded with a taunt that he had earlier saved Trump from bankruptcy.
The first tweet-fight happened in December, when the Saudi used Twitter to demand the Trump quit the race after Trump announced he would bar Islamic immigration until the the jihadi problem has been solved.
In response, Trump dismissed Al-Waleed’s bankruptcy claim.
Alwaleed did not respond to Trump’s “daddy’s money” tweet.
In an Jan. 28 interview with the Daily Mail after the taunt from Alwaleed, Trump also shoved back at Alwaleed’s new bailout tweet.
‘No, no,’ Trump insisted. ‘He didn’t bail me out. Let me tell you – he needs bailing out right now, if you look at where he’s going. He needs bailing out. He needs big bailouts.’
‘Nope. Never been a fan of his. Never been a fan. Never liked him.’
Asked if he had ever met Alwaleed personally, the man on whom he had just heaped a helping of billionaire scorn, Trump paused for a moment.
‘No. Never liked him. Never met him,’ he said.
‘Don’t know him, just never liked him. Never liked his style.’
In February 2015, Alwaleed sold almost half of his shares in Murdoch’s companies, He still holds a 1 percent stake in Murdoch’s News Corp. and a 6.6 percent stake in Murdoch’s entertainment business, 21st Century Fox. Alwaleed also owns roughly 5 percent of Twitter.
In 1991 and 1995, Alwaleed also bought parts of Trump’s business. “In 1991, when Donald Trump was in debt, Alwaleed bought the real estate mogul’s yacht Trump Princess — a former James Bond prop — for $281 million. In 1995, the prince bought a majority stake in the Plaza Hotel as Trump was sinking into bankruptcy,” the Mail reported.
Despite polls that show Trump with a huge lead in polls, the Saudi-based Sabq news website insisted that Alwaleed’s tweets have devastated the billionaire’s White House prospects.
“Prince bin Talal’s tweet, in which he said he bailed Trump out twice and will probably do so a third time, was covered extensively in the US media,” Sabq claimed. “They realized that the candidate is not financially robust and may end up penniless again.”
The paper concluded that the “Americans were struck by bin Talal’s revelations that send Trump’s chances on a downward spiral.”
Aaron Klein is Breitbart’s Jerusalem bureau chief and senior investigative reporter. He is a New York Times bestselling author and hosts the popular weekend talk radio program, “Aaron Klein Investigative Radio.” Follow him on Twitter @AaronKleinShow. Follow him on Facebook.