Trump: How to Get Rich

Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet—What’s in a name?—I have to laugh. What’s in a name can be far more than either the Bard or I ever could have imagined.

We’ve all noticed the ascendancy of brand names and the power they have, from Levi’s to Louis Vuitton. Some people are against this widespread branding, seeing it as another form of labeling. I see it as a viable outlet for creativity.

If you’re on the brink of success in your career, some snob might ask you dismissively, You don’t want to become a brand name, do you? Anyone who asks you that does not have the big picture in focus—and they are usually just envious.

I can get a project off the ground in no time now, whereas an unknown developer would require many months, if not years, to get something going. The number of people I employ to get a project finished reaches into the thousands, and those people would not have a building to work on without a developer to give them a job. Commerce and art cannot function independently—they must work together. That is the beauty of a successful brand name.

If there is a downside to being a well-known name, it is that you become an easy target. The media needs to tear down what it builds up; that’s just part of journalism—stories are about heroes and villains, or success and failure. If you’re a brand name, they’re going to take a shot at you. It comes with the territory, and I’ve learned to live with it. As we say on The Apprentice: It’s not personal. It’s business.

Fortunately, if you have the critics who matter on your side, reading the newspaper can be a lot of fun. Herbert Muschamp, the architecture critic for The New York Times, is a scholar and an authority when it comes to buildings. To receive a compliment from him has an intrinsic value that will never diminish. When he wrote an article on Trump World Tower and described it as a handsome hunk of a glass tower, I was very honored. Here’s more of what he wrote:

Although Donald Trump prefers to publicize the aggressive side of his nature—it’s the manly thing to do—he is also the only beauty freak at large in New York City real estate development…. It’s not surprising that unofficial approval of Trump’s building should come by way of the Museum of Modern Art. The tower embodies the Miesian aesthetic through which the Modern’s design department’s taste was initially formulated—I hope Trump sticks with this material. Trump does better when he ignores his critics than when he pays attention to them.

So don’t be afraid to toot your own horn when you’ve done something worth tooting about.

And don’t believe the critics unless they love your work.

Go with Your Gut

Being an entrepreneur is not a group effort. You have to trust yourself. You may have superb academic credentials, but without instincts you’ll have a hard time getting to—and staying at—the top.

This is one of those gray areas that remain an enigma even to those who have finely honed business instincts. There are inexplicable signs that can guide you to or away from certain deals and certain people.

For example, within a few seconds of meeting Mark Burnett, the creator of The Apprentice, I knew he was one hundred percent solid, both as a person and as a professional, which is a remarkable accomplishment in the entertainment industry.

On the other hand, I’ve met people that I have an aversion to for no particular reason, and while I try not to be judgmental, I have reason by now to trust my gut. Carl Jung said our conscious minds use only five percent of our brain power for daily functioning. If we can learn to tap into that unconscious, subconscious, and dormant ninety-five percent, the results can be amazing.

Be Optimistic, but Always Be Prepared for the Worst

There are a lot of ups and downs, but you can ride them out if you’re prepared for them.

Learning to expect problems saved me from a lot of wasted energy, and it will save you from unexpected surprises. It’s like Wall Street; it’s like life. The ups and downs are inevitable, so simply try to be prepared for them.

Sometimes I’ll ask myself why I want to take on some new, big challenge. A substantial loss is always a possibility. Can I handle it if it doesn’t go well? Will I be asking myself later,Why did I ever do that? What was I thinking? I’m actually a very cautious person, which is different from being a pessimistic person. Call it positive thinking with a lot of reality checks.

Look Closely Before Changing Careers

In 2000, I thought about running for president of the United States as a third-party candidate. I proposed some sensible ideas: tax cuts for the middle class, tougher trade deals, a ban on unregulated soft money in campaigns, comprehensive health care reform. I formed an exploratory committee and met with Reform Party leaders, but in the end I realized I was enjoying my business too much to run for office.

Remember the rule I mentioned earlier about how you shouldn’t equivocate? That may work for business, but in politics, you usually have to watch your words. I’m too blunt to be a politician. Then, there’s my long-held aversion to shaking hands. (More on this in a moment.) Had I entered the race, I wouldn’t have been very popular. Even during the few months I was considering candidacy, I noticed that people began to treat me differently—in a more reserved, less friendly way. Before, I had been The Donald, someone they would wave and smile at. Suddenly, it was a different ball game, and it didn’t seem like much fun to me. One guy I had been friendly with for years saw me at Le Cirque and for the first time in my life called me Mr. Trump. He had always called me Donald. That was a real heads-up.

A lot of successful businesspeople think they can apply their management skills to politics, but I’ve noticed that only a select few, like Michael Bloomberg and Jon Corzine, succeed. Most others lack the temperament for it.

There’s a larger point here, beyond the obvious ones about not confusing your talent for office politics with a gift for electoral politics. Anyone with more than a little curiosity and ambition will at some point be tempted to try a different challenge on new terrain. Take the risk, but before you do, do everything you can to learn what you’re getting yourself into, and be as sure as you can that you’ve got the right mind-set for the job.

Avoid the Handshake Whenever Possible

Some business executives believe in a firm handshake. I believe in no handshake. It is a terrible practice. So often, I see someone who is obviously sick, with a bad cold or the flu, who approaches me and says, Mr. Trump, I would like to shake your hand. It’s a medical fact that this is how germs are spread. I wish we could follow the Japanese custom of bowing instead.

The worst is having to shake hands during a meal. On one occasion, a man walked out of the restaurant’s bathroom, jiggling his hands as though they were still wet and he hadn’t used a towel. He spotted me, walked over to my table, and said, Mr. Trump, you’re the greatest. Would you please shake my hand?

I knew that if I didn’t shake his hand, he’d be saying terrible things about me for thirty years. I also knew that if I agreed, my own hands would be loaded with germs or whatever the hell he’d carried out of the bathroom. I had a choice.

In this case, I decided to shake hands, because I was a little overweight at the time and knew that if I shook his hand I wouldn’t eat my meal—and that would be a good thing.