Donald Trump would probably like to curl his fingers into tiny fists and punch Spy magazine to smithereens. Because, almost 30 years ago, the satire publication called him a "short-fingered vulgarian" — an insult that has now come back to haunt the Republican nominee.

To me, this is the ideal afterlife, that it comes back for a month in this very directed, purposeful way and then it disappears — until the world needs it again. - Kurt Anderson, co-founder of Spy

Spy may have closed its doors in 1999. But, unfortunately for Trump, the magazine staged its relaunch this week.

Spy's new edition was released digitally on Tuesday. And stories will be posted every day until Election Day.

Spy magazine has relaunched as a part of Esquire magazine's website and will run until U.S. Election Day on November 8th. (esquire.com)

Kurt Andersen, the co-founder of the original Spy magazine, tells As It Happens guest host Helen Mann the idea to bring the publication back came about over dinner. He and Joanna Coles of Hearst Media mused about it. Then, a few days later, she called him up and told him she was serious about it.

"I said, 'You have my blessing, my dear, go forth and satirize,'" Andersen says.

Kurt Andersen, author of "Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire: A 500-Year History." (Twitter)

The magazine traded heavily in Trump coverage, long before other media organizations. Andersen's Canadian co-founder at Spy, Graydon Carter, had done a profile of Trump and noticed he seemed to have small hands for a large man. So when the pair was looking for a good epithet, they came up with "short-fingered vulgarian."

Trump contacted them several times over the years to insist he, in fact, had long fingers.

"As people have found, it's not hard to get a rise out of Donald Trump. But we did and so we kept calling him [that]," says Andersen.

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump gestures to the audience at a rally in Colorado on October 3, 2016. (Mike Segar/Reuters)

Andersen says that, while he's not exactly surprised by Trump's entry — and success — in the political arena, he hasn't thought about him in years and his re-emergence has been somewhat unsettling.

"It really is like the end of one of those movies where the hand comes out of the grave and grips your ankle. It was a shock."

Another Spy magazine cover, this one focuses on Donald Trump's then-wife Ivana. (Sussex Publishers LLC)

The online version of Spy will shut down after the voting is over in November. But Andersen is not ruling out another resurrection one day.

"To me, this is the ideal afterlife, that it comes back for a month in this very directed, purposeful way and then it disappears — until the world needs it again."

For more on this story, listen to our full interview with Kurt Andersen.