You're right in that he didn't say "Trust me" but he did say a trust-seeking analogous of:
"I can assure you that that is not true and that if it was true, I’d tell you it was true."
The definition of assure is: "tell someone something positively or confidently to dispel any doubts they may have."
Note the definition of trust: "firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something."
"I can assure you" presented without any assurances or facts otherwise in this context is simply another form of "Trust me".
In any event, without mincing words, the WSJ article presenting some very concrete evidence that his business is both a mess internally and by the numbers isn't delivering compared to a simple index fund. Why didn't he address this in his post if it was untrue? The WSJ even presented a graph with data to back up their claims on rate of returns. I verified the last years numbers (admittedly with a quick Google search, but two other sources seem to have similar conclusions).
"I can assure you that that is not true and that if it was true, I’d tell you it was true."
The definition of assure is: "tell someone something positively or confidently to dispel any doubts they may have."
Note the definition of trust: "firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something."
"I can assure you" presented without any assurances or facts otherwise in this context is simply another form of "Trust me".
In any event, without mincing words, the WSJ article presenting some very concrete evidence that his business is both a mess internally and by the numbers isn't delivering compared to a simple index fund. Why didn't he address this in his post if it was untrue? The WSJ even presented a graph with data to back up their claims on rate of returns. I verified the last years numbers (admittedly with a quick Google search, but two other sources seem to have similar conclusions).