During his press conference, Donald Trump claimed that he owns the largest winery on the East Coast.

No, he doesn’t.

If you check Trump Winery’s website, it claims only to be “Virginia’s largest vineyard” (and is run by his son Eric).

There’s a hell of a difference between having Virginia’s largest vineyard and the largest vineyard on the East Coast.

Now you might not think this is such a big deal in the grand scheme of things. But Trump has a long pattern of exaggerating what he owns and/or the extent of his ownership. Consider British TV reporter Selina Scott’s observations when she profiled him on ITV two decades ago:

This ability to blag people into believing he was a commercial genius was most vividly illustrated in a helicopter ride we took over New York. Pointing to the Empire State Building, he told me he owned it.

 

‘What all of it?’ I asked.

 

‘Yes, 100 per cent,’ he replied.

 

Later, forgetting he had told me he wholly owned the building, he said he only owned 50 per cent of it which he then considerably reduced. It was the same story with the Trump Taj Mahal Casino in Atlantic City.

‘It’s wholly owned by me,’ he said. ‘Are you sure?’ I asked. ‘Well maybe 80 per cent,’ he demurred. ‘Are you quite sure?’ I pressed. He replied: ‘Well it’s actually 50 per cent…’

So when Trump tells you he owns the largest winery on the East Coast you should take this claim (and every other) with a grain of salt.

Otherwise you may be driven to drink.