From the article you linked to:
Barron (also spelled “Baron” in some press accounts) appears to have been Trump’s go-to alias when he was under scrutiny, in need of a tough front man or otherwise wanting to convey a message without attaching his own name to it.
Trump’s use of an assumed name runs counter to the persona he has crafted as the leading Republican candidate for president — one of an unfiltered, politically incorrect maverick who is unafraid to say anything. It suggests that the billionaire real estate mogul is — or, at least, was — not so bold as he likes to present himself.
Remarkably, Trump kept up the charade for a full decade, as reporters unwittingly quoted Barron as if he were a real person. In a LexisNexis search, the first mention of the name appears on June 6, 1980, in a New York Times report about Trump’s controversial decision to destroy two Art Deco sculptures he had conditionally promised to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In that instance, Trump used the alias to stall for three days before finally giving an interview under his own name; when he did, he told the Times that he had been out of town and unavailable (!).
When the original plan to build Trump Castle (in New York, instead of Atlantic City) fell apart in 1984, Barron spun the failure as a business win: “It sure is easier to get a large commission on a $105 million sale than to put up a building,” New York magazine quoted Barron as saying in its Aug. 13 issue that year, referring to a decision by Trump and partner Prudential Insurance to sell a Madison Avenue property, rather than develop it.
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