Donald Trump got into a Twitter fight with the Saudi Royal Family on Thursday.
Dragging out his spat with Fox News, the GOP front-runner retweeted an image of news anchor Megyn Kelly, Photoshopped into to a picture of Prince Alwaleed bin Talal of Saudi Arabia and his sister.
"@BradCross4: @Drudge_Report_ @realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/Ur1qgG291Z"
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 28, 2016'Most people don't know that the co-owner of Fox News is Prince Al-Waleed of Saudi Arabia here with his sister and with host Mygan [sic] Kelly,' it read. 'In case you only watch Fox News and you missed it everywhere else.'
But during a brief interview on his plane in Des Moines, Iowa, Trump insisted the Saudi is the one who needs financial bailouts, and said he's never liked the man – before admitting the two have never met.
Within hours, the monarch hit back pointing out that the photo is a mock-up - and that Trump could have been in financial disaster if it hadn't been for him
Trump:You base your statements on photoshopped pics?I bailed you out twice;a 3rd time,maybe? https://t.co/Raco0mvusp https://t.co/jStBl7Ghia
— الوليد بن طلال (@Alwaleed_Talal) January 28, 2016'Trump:You base your statements on photoshopped pics?I bailed you out twice;a 3rd time,maybe?,' Alwaleed, the 34th richest person in the world, tweeted at him on Thursday.
Indeed, 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.
Aboard his Boeing 757, parked on the tarmac in Des Moines, DailyMail.com asked The Donald about Alwaleed's claim that he had rescued him financially.
'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 December, Alwaleed called Donald Trump a disgrace to the United States following his call for a ban on Muslims entering the country, and demanded the Republican front-runner withdraw from the US presidential race.
'You are a disgrace not only to the GOP but to all America,' Prince Alwaleed, the chairman of Kingdom Holding, said on his Twitter account, addressing Trump and referring to the Republican Party.
By Mia De Graaf, David Martosko and J. Taylor Rushing
