Trump: How to Get Rich

a jungle to replicate the one in which the Survivor contestants had been living.

When I arrived at Wollman Rink that night, I was amazed to see what they had been able to do. They had transformed a city skating rink into an exotic wildlife scene. As I was heading toward my seat, an attractive young man approached me and said, Hi, Mr. Trump, I’m Mark Burnett and I’m the creator of Survivor.

I said, Mark, you don’t have to tell me that. Everybody knows who you are, but it’s really nice to meet you.

He said, You know, Mr. Trump, I have an idea and I’d love to see you at your earliest possible convenience.

A week later, he came to my office. Before he got to his formal presentation, he did what any smart entrepreneur would do: He made sure he established a connection with me.

He did this by telling me that I’m a genius. Some people may consider such flattery excessive, but when you’re on the receiving end, it’s usually okay.

In the most passionate terms, he told me how, fifteen years ago, when he was selling shirts on Venice Beach and barely making a living, he had read a copy of The Art of the Deal. He said it had changed his life.

If that’s so, I said, why haven’t you given me twenty percent?

He laughed heartily. I knew he was setting the table, but he was setting it brilliantly. I was impressed.

Then he told me his idea for The Apprentice—a series set in the jungle of New York City, the toughest jungle of them all, where people tear each other apart just to get an inch ahead of the competition.

His idea was terrific: Have sixteen people compete in a televised thirteen-week job interview, where the winner gets to become my apprentice. Whoever won would get a six-figure job at The Trump Organization for one year—maybe longer, if he or she was worth it.

What appealed to me most was that the premise of The Apprentice would be educational to viewers. People would be able to see how the real business world works and what it takes to survive in it—or to even have a chance to survive in it.

I asked Mark what kind of a time commitment he would need from me.

Mark’s words, which I will never forget and will always remind him of, were: Donald, believe me, the most time we would need is three hours a week.

I can affectionately say that I was a real schmuck for believing that line.

The first few episodes took about thirty hours each. But it turned out I didn’t mind. As time went by, I started to realize that this show could be really big, and I wanted to devote the kind of time to it that Mark needed me to give.

When we pitched the project to the top networks for bids, everyone wanted it. They loved the concept. We chose NBC, which also broadcasts my Miss Universe, Miss USA, and Miss Teen USA pageants, so it was a quick and easy deal. Neither side had to be convinced of anything, and from the very first meeting, the relationship has been a strong one. Bob Wright, the chairman of NBC, and Jeff Zucker, president of NBC Entertainment, are the best in the business. They worked hard to promote the show and were rewarded with rave reviews and the best ratings of any new show of the season. I know this sounds like typical showbiz hype, but it’s all true.

Once I got used to the time commitment, working on the show came naturally, because, in effect, what I do on The Apprentice is what I do in life: I hire people. I fire people. I make things work.

One of my favorite aspects of the show are the dramatic entrances and exits I get to make—from limousines and planes, or into the boardroom. It’s good to be the CEO, and it’s even better to be the CEO on national TV. It was also great to enlist the services of special guest stars such as George Steinbrenner and Donny Deutsch, the best advertising man in the business, as well as Regis, of course.

When we announced the show to the media in one of the most publicized job listings in recent memory, the reaction was instant and huge. In the first week, we received over 86,000 website hits. Over 70,000 applications were downloaded—the first one from Hamburg, Germany. The tally reached 215,000 before we finally stopped counting. This might have been the biggest job application in history.

Fortunately, Mark and his team knew what they were doing. After reviewing the twelve-page applications and videotapes required of prospective contestants, ten casting directors and five assistant casting directors studide the materials further, narrowing the field to those deemed strong possibilities.

The Apprentice auditions in August 2003. I’m greeting these brave people in front of Trump Tower.

Their screening process was comprehensive and thorough. In the spirit of fairness, open calls were held in ten major U.S. cities. Tens of thousands of people showed up. In New York City, at Trump Tower, those thousands stood in the pouring rain for hours just to get a few moments of consideration. Obviously, most of them didn’t make it, but they’ve got what it takes to succeed because they’ve got the guts to go for it.

Seeing their enthusiasm really revved me up for the show. It also bowled me over. I thought to myself,All these people want to work for

me? It was incredibly flattering. Then again, I doubt those people knew what they might have been getting themselves into. I heard through the grapevine at my office, on one particularly rough day, that the name for The Apprentice competitors who didn’t win spots on the show was The Lucky Fifteen.

There were some amusing moments before we began taping. Mark Burnett brought his adoring father, Archibald, to visit one day. After meeting me, he said, You’re much more handsome in person than I would have thought. Maybe you don’t photograph so well. Good luck with the show. Mark quickly interjected that his father was from Scotland and tended to be on the blunt side. I think he’s terrific.

Mark is a lot of fun to be around—the British equivalent of a Green Beret. He has no fear and tremendous positive energy, which is my idea of a great leader. We’re both big Neil Young fans, so one night, I took him to a concert at the Taj Majal in Atlantic City and introduced him to Neil backstage. Then we went to Naomi Campbell’s party in New York City.

I always made a point of mentioning Survivor when I introduced Mark to people, but later I realized I was getting some confused looks when I did it, particularly from a Chinese poker winner we met at the Taj Majal. It took me a moment to figure out that Survivor probably isn’t on TV in China. The poker winner thought Mark was a cancer survivor and didn’t know what to say.

When the crew of the show first appeared at Trump Tower, they created a bit of a buzz. Our ordinary routine was altered by just their presence. It was unusual to see all of those cameras. But within a couple of weeks, it became part of the routine. Jay Bienstock and Kevin Harris, two of Mark Burnett’s producers, became fixtures of our organization. Then NBC executive Jim Dowd became a regular. If anything, it was when they weren’t around that it seemed like something was amiss. They were never an imposition, and we even missed them when taping was over.

Unlike a scripted movie or TV show,The Apprentice that you have seen on NBC is pretty much the way it was behind the scenes. That’s the idea—behind the scenes is in front of your eyes. Right away, I can hear you saying, But we heard the boardroom was a set, and not your boardroom at all. That’s true, but the only reason we built another boardroom was because my own boardroom at The Trump Organization is in constant use, and having a film crew in it every week for several months would have disrupted my business. So we built a replica on the fourth floor of Trump Tower. The reception area was also built there because the comings and goings of the sixteen apprentices and a TV production crew would have been a disturbance to our employees and our guests, some of whom may not have been expecting a close-up.

The set was built in Trump Tower so I could take an elevator and be there in fewer than two minutes. My regular business schedule is hectic, so traveling to and from an off-site location could have caused problems. Using the space we had on-site proved to be a good decision.

The living quarters for the sixteen applicants were also built on the fourth floor, and the equipment necessary for filming was installed there. It was an amazing setup, with sound rooms, tech rooms, lights, cameras, and what seemed like miles of cables. When I first saw it all, I realized the immensity of the preparations that went into this show, with designers, decorators, technicians, assistants, producers, and directors all working like mad. At any