McGrath, in this case 'claim' means only that El-Gamal is on the yellow brick road to becoming a real estate mogul, perhaps boasting a bit; I did not go on to quote a comparison the writers made with Donald Trump, who has gone beyond 'claim' to become the real Mazuma and the bricks have morphed to gold.
El-Gamal has a few apartment buildings but that is small potatoes in the Apple.

If you want to comment validly, go to Fox News on the net and read the article, don't try to read meanings into American usage from a word with several meanings, especially in reporterese.