from total strangers. It still takes me by surprise. Once I was stuck in a horrible traffic jam in my limousine, and I had a few members of Mark Burnett’s team with me, so I decided to try an experiment. It was one of those traffic jams where we hadn’t moved an inch in ten minutes, and tempers were red-hot, with taxi drivers yelling and everyone else as well, and every car seemed to have its horn on permanent full blast. I decided to step out of my limousine and just stand there in the middle of this chaos. The reaction? At first, dead silence. Then the fuming drivers and passengers started waving and shouting Donald! It’s The Donald! Hi, Donald! I had to laugh. At least we had some relief from the honking horns for a few minutes.
4:00 P.M. Back in my office. I make a call downstairs, as I’d noticed some of the lobby door handles weren’t as polished as I’d like them to be. I want my buildings to be impeccable, and the people who inhabit them appreciate that, even if I might seem a bit extreme at times.
I receive a letter from a U.S. serviceman overseas, Terry Simmons. His morale-building idea for his unit is to receive an autographed photograph from me. I am very touched by this request, and we send it off right away. These men and women are putting their lives on the line to protect something I cherish, which is this country. One of the great moments of my life was being honored, along with General John M. Keane, by the USO in 2002. In my speech I mentioned that accepting this honor put me in the finest company imaginable, because every member of the United States armed forces was being honored alongside me. I meant it then, and I still mean it today. We send our best to Terry Simmons.
4:30 P.M. Giuseppe Cipriani, who has one of the best restaurants in New York, calls. As someone who goes out to dinner a lot, I have very particular tastes, and Giuseppe is someone who will never let you down. I am trying to get him into my Park Avenue building.
The mysterious Jeffrey calls in. As mysterious as Jeffrey is, he’s one of the few people I know who can get by on just a first name. My staff never asks for a last name in his case, which in a way puts him up there with Elvis. Not that Elvis calls in much these days, but you never know. That’s why I have a floor for security. Sometimes we need it. We’ve had some calls you wouldn’t believe.
Norma comes in to tell me she’s had it with
I call Vinnie Stellio, a longtime employee whose wife has just had a baby boy. Vinnie could’ve been a movie star with his looks and swagger, but, fortunately, he works for us. He also could’ve written his own scripts, but he’s busy enough as it is.
5:00 P.M. I call Arnold Schwarzenegger to congratulate him on his recent decision to run for governor of California. I’ve also received several media calls asking me for my opinion on his decision. I’ve always liked Arnold, and I think he’ll make a great governor, not just because I like him but because he’s got the smarts and energy to run a state like California.
I read an article by a journalist who spent a day with me a few months ago. I remember him saying that he felt one day wouldn’t be sufficient, and I remember telling him that most people felt that one day with me was enough. At the end of the article, he admits I was right—that one day with me was enough—he was completely exhausted. It’s funny, because to me it seemed like a more relaxing and low-key day than I usually have, and I was certainly on my best behavior. Anyway, it’s nice to be right.
5:30 P.M. Norma comes in to review media requests, charity requests, and invitations. Since September 11, requests for charity have increased sharply, and we do what we can. We comment on how we receive a consistently high number of letters from Canada. One letter is from two ladies in Saskatchewan who have invited me to have a cup of coffee with them at their local coffeehouse, which has two tables. If I decide to accept, they will do their best to reserve a table for me. Due to my schedule, I have to decline, but their offer is genuine and kind, and if I had the time, I’d go.
Sometimes I answer media requests myself, when I have time. Once I called a guy named Phil Grande in Florida. He has a small radio program,Stock Trading & Money Talk, and he had faxed me an interview request. I picked up the phone and called him myself. When he asked who was calling, I said, Donald Trump, and he said, Yeah, and I’m J. P. Morgan. It took some convincing on my part, but he finally believed me, and we chatted for some time. Afterward, he called my assistants to verify that I had indeed called him, and to this day he sends them flowers every Christmas. People like Phil can make our jobs a lot of fun.
6:00 P.M. Asprey, the jewelers who occupy the corner of Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue, are expanding, and they’ve invited me down to see the renovations. They will have three floors, and it will be stunning—much like their jewelry. They are the jewelers to the royal family in England, and their new space will reflect that status when it’s done. I also decide to check on my new tenants, Mark Burnett Productions, on the way down to the lobby, to see that everything is up to par. I have a great management team, but I like to check things out for myself as much as possible. I make a quick call to Melania to check on dinner plans before the theater, and I leave the office.
WEDNESDAY
9:00 A.M. Melanie Griffith was terrific inChicago last night, and we visited her afterward to tell her so.
I take a call regarding placing antennas on The Trump Building at 40 Wall Street. Since the World Trade Towers are gone, 40 Wall Street is once again the tallest building in lower Manhattan. It’s not a fact that particularly appeals to me, but it is a fact. Whatever will best serve the Financial District is fine with me.
I have to say one thing about New Yorkers, and that is that after September 11, they just continued to move forward and do their best. That took courage, and I think it shows what makes New York City such a great place.
I place a call to Governor Pataki, and take a call from John Myers, president of GE Asset Management. We’ve done some deals together and he’s a great guy—and a very smart one.
9:30 A.M. Kevin Harris, a supervising producer for Mark Burnett, is ready to take me on a tour of the sets built in Trump Tower forThe Apprentice. He has on some sort of a new vintage bowling shirt, deconstructed jeans with more holes than fabric, and some very original footwear that I can’t begin to describe. This guy could make Helmut Lang look old hat, but we make a quick getaway before Norma can see him.
The construction site also includes living quarters for the sixteen contestants, which is an incredibly stylish ten-thousand-square-foot loft, probably the only such living space in midtown. I am pleasantly surprised at the quality of the work, and my trust in Mark Burnett is again confirmed.
10:00 A.M. Back in my office, I begin returning calls. People are surprised at how many hours I put in at my office each week, since I seem to have a busy social life as well. I also like to plan my business trips for the weekends whenever possible, to avoid missing office time. I love what I do, so it doesn’t seem like I’m missing out on any fun. Last year I took a transatlantic weekend business trip that included breakfast in London with Mohamed Al Fayed and dinner in Slovenia with Melania’s parents before flying back to New York. We were back in time for me to be in the office by 9:00 A.M. Monday.
I talk to Jay Goldberg, a brilliant lawyer and an old friend. He and his wife, Rema, will join me in my box at the U.S. Open.
This is a good one: The pushiest broker in New York calls in for a chat about the availability of some of my prime apartments, as if I couldn’t guess why she was calling me in the first place. She tries to tell me what my apartments are worth, and I try to control my temper, but she’s full of bullshit. Finally, I ask her if she realizes who she’s talking to and, surprisingly, she immediately becomes reasonable. Almost every day, I have to remind someone that maybe I know what I’m doing, and while that may sound like I’m tooting my own horn, believe me, it saves a lot of yelling time.
10:30 A.M. The German TV team is ready for an interview in the conference room. They’d done a wonderful job in covering Mar-a-Lago a few months ago, which I appreciate, and so we’re doing a New York interview. They are professional and enthusiastic, and all goes well. You see, I’ve done so many interviews that at times they can be boring for me, so if the people are interesting, it helps a lot. Just this year, both of my sons did their first TV
