Nobody ever really knows what Donald Trump is worth. Forbes currently pegs his net worth at $2.7 billion. Trump insisted last week that it’s actually “much more than that.” The validity of his claim may depend on whether you measure net worth the way Trump does according to how he’s feeling about the world in that very moment. That’s how Trump explained the process to lawyers during a deposition in 2007, after Trump sued Times scribe Timothy O’Brien for claiming in his book that the real-estate mogul was actually only worth between $150,000 and $250,000:
Trump: My net worth fluctuates, and it goes up and down with the markets and with attitudes and with feelings, even my own feelings, but I try.
Ceresney: Let me just understand that a little. You said your net worth goes up and down based upon your own feelings?
Trump: Yes, even my own feelings, as to where the world is, where the world is going, and that can change rapidly from day to day …
Ceresney: When you publicly state a net worth number, what do you base that number on?
So if you want to know why Trump’s net worth went up another $500,000 today, it’s because he just watched that video of a dog and a baby playing with bubbles:
Trump: I’m worth whatever I feel [CNN Money]
