How pathetic can you get? In 1984, "John Bannon" told a Forbes reporter they underestimated his net worth. Via Washington Post: The official was John Barron — a name we now know as an alter ego of Trump himself. When I recently rediscovered and listened, for first time since that year, to the tapes I made of this and other phone calls, I was amazed that I didn’t see through the ruse: Although Trump altered some cadences and affected a slightly stronger New York accent, it was clearly him.