Longtime reporter Kurt Eichenwald explained over the weekend how President Donald Trump has leveraged a "mental illness" to help him lie to people over the years.
In a series of tweets on Sunday, Eichenwald recalled interacting with Trump while he was a business reporter in 1987. Trump has a pattern of lying to reporters anonymously to get favorable media coverage, Eichenwald said.
"I have known Donald Trump since 1987," Eichenwald wrote. "Like everyone else who knows him well, before he became a politician, I know he is liar, a narcissist, and eventually I knew he was mentally ill. At that time, he professed to be a democrat. This had nothing to do with politics."
Eichenwald remembered pitching an editor a story after Trump lied about a stock trade.
"The editor did not even look up from his computer and said the words I remember to this day: 'Dog [bites] man. Donald Trump lies,'" Eichenwald said. "In other words, everyone in the financial world KNEW Trump was a pathological liar, in 1987. Proving it was like proving the sun rose in the morning."
Read all of Eichenwald's tweets below to learn how Trump's alleged mental illness was a benefit to him when lying to media outlets.
1. I have known Donald Trump since 1987. Like everyone else who knows him well, before he became a politician, I kn… https://t.co/QUIySmbz7y— Kurt "Masks Save Lives" Eichenwald (@Kurt "Masks Save Lives" Eichenwald) 1547409266.0
2...so, how long did it take to conclude all this about Trump? Three phone calls for everything but the mental illn… https://t.co/Q7qh6vqqww— Kurt "Masks Save Lives" Eichenwald (@Kurt "Masks Save Lives" Eichenwald) 1547409449.0
3...in the business section. My first story was about Trump filing with the SEC to buy more of than 5% of the stock… https://t.co/uK6rKTTDSk— Kurt "Masks Save Lives" Eichenwald (@Kurt "Masks Save Lives" Eichenwald) 1547409599.0
4....I identified myself and the first words out of his mouth were, "Oh, Kurt, I love your stuff." That surprised m… https://t.co/aMQg8asgke— Kurt "Masks Save Lives" Eichenwald (@Kurt "Masks Save Lives" Eichenwald) 1547409705.0
5...asked me to go on background. He began to wax on about the prospects of Alexanders, how mismanaged it was, how… https://t.co/1z7qIKojtv— Kurt "Masks Save Lives" Eichenwald (@Kurt "Masks Save Lives" Eichenwald) 1547409791.0
6...to load up on Alexanders shares partly because of that. He then told me to identify him as an analyst to explai… https://t.co/sHtDOfJgAV— Kurt "Masks Save Lives" Eichenwald (@Kurt "Masks Save Lives" Eichenwald) 1547409910.0
7...something in the paper anonymously because when he asked, it was his sign he was about to lie. A week later, m… https://t.co/4hvpi4IoKR— Kurt "Masks Save Lives" Eichenwald (@Kurt "Masks Save Lives" Eichenwald) 1547410093.0
8...it was on the front. It was a glowing article about Trump by a reporter named Fox Butterfield. Before we were a… https://t.co/PeBUdN6N8R— Kurt "Masks Save Lives" Eichenwald (@Kurt "Masks Save Lives" Eichenwald) 1547410165.0
9...story really captured who he is, and bragged about himself in a way that seemed bizarre. I couldn't understand… https://t.co/pY3zNQusQD— Kurt "Masks Save Lives" Eichenwald (@Kurt "Masks Save Lives" Eichenwald) 1547410243.0
10...me to reiterate how great he was, he kept asking, "Don't you think that really captures who I am? I do. He rea… https://t.co/w5DBkaidbE— Kurt "Masks Save Lives" Eichenwald (@Kurt "Masks Save Lives" Eichenwald) 1547410310.0
11...he is, I said, "I was wondering about the Alexander's buy..." and he said, "Ok, well, gotta go.." and hung up.… https://t.co/tzb195Rlkz— Kurt "Masks Save Lives" Eichenwald (@Kurt "Masks Save Lives" Eichenwald) 1547410405.0
12...overload. One day about a week in, an article appeared in the New York Post. Trump proclaimed that, he was so… https://t.co/Mnu1npXu3X— Kurt "Masks Save Lives" Eichenwald (@Kurt "Masks Save Lives" Eichenwald) 1547410484.0
13...to say this. None of them would print it because...even if it was true...who cares? But no one believed it was… https://t.co/KTiSOQWNkT— Kurt "Masks Save Lives" Eichenwald (@Kurt "Masks Save Lives" Eichenwald) 1547410585.0
14...I couldn't understand it. Why would this man be calling around to brag how smart he was by claiming he did som… https://t.co/6VEVukogAb— Kurt "Masks Save Lives" Eichenwald (@Kurt "Masks Save Lives" Eichenwald) 1547410650.0
15...and said it would be an interesting story that Trump was purposely calling people to pretend brilliance in a l… https://t.co/LyFMudyWJw— Kurt "Masks Save Lives" Eichenwald (@Kurt "Masks Save Lives" Eichenwald) 1547410703.0
16...the financial world KNEW Trump was a pathological liar, in 1987. Proving it was like proving the sun rose in t… https://t.co/MgHEGp2Klj— Kurt "Masks Save Lives" Eichenwald (@Kurt "Masks Save Lives" Eichenwald) 1547410886.0
17...so why am I saying all of this? Because lots of people - particularly Cult45 - think these portrayals of Trump… https://t.co/Ngy8JPFL2B— Kurt "Masks Save Lives" Eichenwald (@Kurt "Masks Save Lives" Eichenwald) 1547410961.0
18...worked with him. Many have covered him, know him as "Donald." We knew he was a liar and unbalanced when he was… https://t.co/dpzDu9qfS1— Kurt "Masks Save Lives" Eichenwald (@Kurt "Masks Save Lives" Eichenwald) 1547411054.0
19...an end point. A person who did business with Trump over the years told me in 2016, "If you asked him, Donald w… https://t.co/Dv1KRqaHAW— Kurt "Masks Save Lives" Eichenwald (@Kurt "Masks Save Lives" Eichenwald) 1547411127.0