Donald Trump told a crowd of supporters in Sparks, Nevada on Tuesday it's no mystery why The New York Times attacks him: "It's owned by Mexico."
As part of his regular stump speech calling the press dishonest, Trump singled out the Times, saying it was strange that the newspaper wanted to advise others what to do when it hasn't been very smart in its own business dealings.
"They buy a building, and they have a building in New York. They sell it for $125 million or so. Right? Couple of years – few years later, guy sells it for $525 million," Trump said. "They buy The Boston Globe for $1.3 billion. They sell it for $1. And then they write an editorial where they tell you how to run your life. Give me a break."
But it wasn’t just Trump's view that the Times has bad business acumen that drew his ire.
"I know why I get bad treatment in The New York Times: because it's owned by Mexico," he said. "I don't know if you know. A rich guy in Mexico actually has power at The New York Times. I wonder why they don't like us, you know? I just wonder."
Trump has been criticized for his call to build a wall along the 2,000-mile southern border "and make Mexico pay for it," as well as his promise to deport all illegal immigrants if elected.
His statement that the Times is owned by "a rich guy in Mexico" was referring to Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim Helú, who in 2009 loaned the Times $250 million to refinance its debt.
According to
a story in the Times reporting the transaction, Slim received no representation on the company's board and didn't get shares with special voting rights like those of the Sulzberger family, which runs the company.
But the deal did make Slim among the largest single shareholders when he exercised the warrants on the six-year notes in January 2015, giving him almost 17 percent of common shares. The Sulzbergers own 88 percent of the company with special voting shares.