Monday, April 5, 2021

Trump: The Art of the Deal

Book: Trump: The Art of the Deal
Basic Information : Synopsis : Characters : Expectations : Thoughts : Evaluation :Good Quotes : Table of Contents : References

Basic Information:

Author: Donald J Trump

Edition: epub on Libby from the Fresno County Public Library

Publisher: Ballantine Books

ISBN: 0345479173 (ISBN13: 9780345479174)

Start Date: March 28, 2021

Read Date: April 5, 2021

384 pages

Genre: Biography, Business

Language Warning: None

Rated Overall: 3out of 5


Synopsis:

Trump goes through his deals, telling how he made them.


Cast of Characters:
Donal J Trump


Expectations:
  • Date Became Aware of Book: Early 2000’s
  • How come do I want to read this book: I was thinking about the Trump Presidency and it occurred to me that maybe his greatest failure as President was being able to come to a deal with those who either opposed him or this nation. Consequently I was curious about what he has to say about making a deal.
  • What do I think I will get out of it? A better understand of Donald Trump

Thoughts:

Several times in the book, he talks about, “when he is right”. I wonder by what basis he talks on this? Morally? Legally? If it is right for him?



1 Dealing: A Week in the life

Trump does not need the money. He does deals because I do it to do it. Deals are my art form. Sounds like he does things without a purpose. Just gratification on this part. That is borne out in the next statement: I like making deals, preferably big deals. That’s how I get my kicks. I wonder about this. Sounds almost like an addiction. I wonder how many people he gave them an unequal deal to? How many lives ruined? Just because he is addicted to this. (From the book, I do not get an impression either way.)


It never stops. The”it” is the deals, he is always seeking for it.


He goes through a calendar week with what he does to give us a feel for the kind of things he does.


I tell him it’s a no-contest question—stick with a winner and a good guy at that. The “him” is Abe Hirschfeld. The guy is Mario Cuomo. When Trump is President, he definitely did not like the son.


I hate lawsuits and depositions, but the fact is that if you’re right, you’ve got to take a stand, or people will walk all over you. He is suing a contractor who Trump said was not competent. But there is a chip on his shoulder. He thinks that people sue him just because of his name. But in this case he is suing someone else.


Maryanne Barry-his sister. Trump speaks highly of her in this book. But apparently Barry did not think very much of him as President.

Finally, I see a huge and magnificent gold wreath for the entrance to the building, and decide we should use just that. Sometimes—not often, but sometimes—less is more. A gold wreath is less? I suppose if you have a lot of other decorations, that is true. But this is not much of a come down.


It’s funny what’s happened: bankers now come to me, to ask if I might be interested in borrowing their money. They know a safe bet. He is referencing that he had to beg for money earlier. Interesting that he burnt several bankers after this and now only a couple of banks will do business with him.


I’ll say this much: I wouldn’t bet against her . The “her” is Ivana, his first wife, whom he cheated on. I guess he would bet against her.


That experience taught me a few things. One is to listen to your gut, no matter how good something sounds on paper. The second is that you’re generally better off sticking with what you know. And the third is that sometimes your best investments are the ones you don’t make. He is talking about an oil deal he passed on.


and I’m a very practical guy. He is talking about him hiring an architect to work on a building after firing another person. This seems to be his style. Build up a person. Then not like them and then fire them.


2 Tramp Cards: The Elements of the Deal

I think deal-making is an ability you’re born with. Interesting view. Then why read this book if it will not help me out in understanding how to make a deal? It then is left with a boost to an ego. He does give some directions:

  •  Think big. Most people think small, because most people are afraid of success, afraid of making decisions, afraid of winning. I think it is more afraid of losing what they have.
  •  Protect the downside and the Upside will Take Care of Itself. It’s been said that I believe in the power of positive thinking
  • Maximize Your Options. I keep a lot of balls in the air, because most deals fall out.
  • Know Your Market. I’m a great believer in asking everyone for an opinion before I make a decision. It’s a natural reflex.
  • Use Your Leverage. Leverage: don’t make deals without it. On one side that is true. On the other side, it sounds like Trump enjoys squeezing people.
  • Enhance Your Location.
  • Get the Word Out. One thing I’ve learned about the press is that they’re always hungry for a good story, and the more sensational the better. …. The other thing I do when I talk with reporters is to be straight. I try not to deceive them or to be defensive, because those are precisely the ways most people get themselves into trouble with the press. I wonder if he had a change of mind? He certainly seemed to go out of his way to antagonize and deceive the press when he was President.
  • Fight Back Much as it pays to emphasize the positive, there are times when the only choice is confrontation. The one thing Trump did well. I’m very good to people who are good to me. He seemed to go through people very quickly as President.
  • Deliver the Goods. You can’t con people, at least not for long. He seems to have made this his art to con his followers.
  • Contain the Costs. When I was building low-income housing, the most important thing was to get it built quickly, inexpensively, and adequately, so you could rent it out and make a few bucks I think what he is saying here is that you do not give away money. You build to what is being expected. But what it really sounds like is that he wants to make a buck off the poor.
  • Have Fun


3 Growing Up

His father, Fred Trump, was the most important influence on Donald Trump. Fred Trump did it the steady, hard way to build wealth. Donald Trump wants something grander, more glamorous, and more exciting. Sounds like he did not care about having a safety net. Tells his father’s and mother’s story. His father’s success allowed him to send his brother, John Trump, to MIT to get his Phd. Our family was always very close, and to this day they are my closest friends. Then talked about the various siblings of his: Maryanne Trump Berry and Fred Trump.


He described his most influential teacher. Trump’s comment is that I also learned how to play him. Trump worked on getting this teacher on his side.


His father would get sub-contractors on his side by promising four things: They would get paid, Paid on time, that the job would be done quickly-allowing them to move on, and there would be repeat work.


4 He Cincinnati Kid: Prudence Pays

In college, Trump looked at FHA foreclosure listings. He feels this is a great way to get property for cheap. He wanted to own properties himself. He put in a bid on some property in Cincinnati called Swifton Village which was getting run down. His father and him put in a bid and got it. They also abstained a loan for a little more than the loan to fix up the place. He is proud of himself since they did not have to put in any of their own money.


They made cosmetic improvements to the property. But they went through several managers. Trump said that we went through them fast, because I tend to size people up pretty quickly. Sounds like he does not properly vet them before hiring them. Is that the reason why he went through so many senior position people during his Presidency?


In this case, he found someone who could manage the place. But the manager was a con man who could not get bonded. Trump still kept him since he figured the manager would keep others straight. Still, I figure he managed to steal at least another $50,000 a year. Even so, I was probably getting a bargain.. Interesting theory. As long as Trump made money, he was OK with knowing others stole from him.


Trump learned from the manager: just by showing no fear, and that left a very vivid impression on me


Trump got word that the part of town Swifton Village was in was deteriorating, so he sold. He does not become vested in his communities, but uses them.


Read the couple of links in this chapter to get another side to this story.



5 The Move to Manhattan

Trump portrays himself as not dependent on his father’s money to get started. My father had done very well for himself, but he didn’t believe in giving his children huge trust funds.He said that he only had $200,000. To me that is not exactly common folk amounts from graduating from college. Most people are either even or owning for their college education.



To get into money, he joined a pretty ritz club, full of movers and shakers and those with money. This crowd sounded like it would move in on anybody. My mother is as much of a rock as my father. She is totally devoted to my father—they recently celebrated fifty years of marriage. I wonder what Donald Trump learned from that? He is on his third wife now.



He meets a lawyer, Roy Cohn. They get into a discussion on lawsuits. Trump is fighting a federal racial discrimination lawsuit. Cohn was a piece of work. Sounds like Trump does not care who he hires as long as they will fight for him. I think that next to loyalty, toughness was the most important thing in the world to him.



Just compare that with all the hundreds of “respectable” guys who make careers out of boasting about their uncompromising integrity but have absolutely no loyalty. They think only about what’s best for them and don’t think twice about stabbing a friend in the back if the friend becomes a problem. It really looks like Trump cares more for loyalty than integrity, how can he use someone rather than being a friend.



6 Gland Hotel: Reviving 42nd Street

Trump buys the Commodore and renovates it into the Grand Hotel.



7 Trump Tower: The Tiffany Location

Trump wants a particular site on 57th and 7th St called the Bonwit Teller. He proposed to the owner a plan. That’s not really feasible, but the point was that I would have done almost anything to get that piece of property . This tends to be Trump’s style. Propose something which sounds attractive, but probably will not work. He is more interested in owning than integrity of the proposal.


He goes through the process of trying to acquire it. He says that he was very polite and very respectful, and he agreed to see me. Why does Trump emphasize that he was polite? I would think as a human, that the first layer is to be polite rather than something to take note of. What does this say about Trump?


Interesting dynamic. People would try to sell fake watches in front of Tiffany’s. The owner would make sure his people moved them along. When the owner moves on, the peddlers do not get moved on. Trump says I now employ some very large security people who make absolutely sure that the street in front of Trump Tower is kept clean, pristine, and free of peddlers. Sort of fits his style.


Mentions several women who worked for him:

The background to the following statement is that the building he was going to tear down had some Art Deco friezes which the Metropolitan Museum of Art would like. It turns out it would be a bigger job than Trump anticipated. I just wasn’t prepared to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars to save a few Art Deco sculptures that I believed were worth considerably less, and perhaps not very much at all. … I’m not convinced they were truly valuable, and I still think that a lot of my critics were phonies and hypocrites, but I understand now that certain events can take on a symbolic importance ... There are a couple of things interesting about his statements First, he makes commitments without really knowing what he is committing to. Second, he will pretty easily back out of the commitments. Thirdly, he values his opinion, even if he does not have expertise over those who are experts. Lastly, he will devalue whoever disagrees with him.


When he was trying to sell units at Trump Towers, one group of people were the Japanese. He complains they would come in groups of ten or twelve. You may succeed with one or two or three, but it’s far harder to convince all twelve. In addition, they rarely smile and they are so serious that they don’t make doing business fun. Interesting. What makes it fun trying to sell to people? Trump does not say, but I suspect it is taking their money. By coming in a pack, it is harder to pick off a couple of people to buy. Seems like a prudent way to do business with Trump.

Adnan Khashoggi - He was an uncle of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Jamal Khashoggi was the person who was murdered by the Saudi’s. Trump would not take on the Saudi’s. I wonder why? Trump’s relation is that Khashoggi invited Trump over to his place. His living quarters were huge, much bigger than Trumps’s. So Trump wanted his to be bigger, so he made it so. Really reminds me of a little boy playing my toy is bigger than yours.


I came across this article from Trump’s lawyer about obtaining the site for Trump Towers.


8 Gaming: The Building on the Boardwalk

And now into the casino business. To Trump, gambling is amoral. It is on the par with investing in the New York Stock Exchange. The New York Stock Exchange happens to be the biggest casino in the world. But Trump does look for bargains. When Atlantic City had legalized gambling, the prospect of legalized gambling had already sent Atlantic City land values soaring. He says the speculators seemed to come in like vultures. Sort of like what Trump does. It is just do not do it to Trump, but the other guy. particularly along the Boardwalk by the ocean, Speculators—everyone from large public companies to fly-by-night con men—had moved in like vultures.


The worst of times often create the best opportunities to make good deals. This is a well duh statement. What he does not explain is how to do it.


Nick Ribis-lawyer who became CEO of some of Trump’s enterprises.


What I needed was someone totally competent, totally honest, and totally loyal to oversee the project. He chose his brother, Robert. What I get out of this is that all of this is only a one way street. Trump does seem to fit the bill of competency, but of honest and loyal? I think his personal definition is something different than mine.


As a result, I decided to seek public financing for the project, through a bond issue. The public part is that he had bonds sold to finance the project. He does not like being on the hook personally for anything. He would rather have others take the risk and he gets the fame.

  • Stephen Hyde - died in a helicopter crash. CEO of Trump’s casinos
  • Paul Patay-calls him the number one food and beverage man around. Later his ex-wife fires him.


9 Wynn-Fall: The Battle for Hilton

More about Atlantic City. This time with an additional hotel which the Hilton was building. Hilton gets turned down for a casino license which makes their building useless to them until a license can be procured. Trumps talks about wooing Barron Hilton. I would also have won, but if I went down, it would have been kicking and screaming. I would have closed the hotel and let it rot. That’s just my makeup. I fight when I feel I’m getting screwed, even if it’s costly and difficult and highly risky. I do not really think Trump gives an example of this.


Because Steve Wynn was trying to take over Hilton, Barron Hilton decided to sell the Atlantic City hotel to Trump. In the meantime, he was having troubles getting his own hotel built.


Damon Runyon-newspaper man. No connection to Trump. Only used him in reference to a writer of a newsletter.


10 Low Rent, High Stakes: The Showdown on Central Park South

Talks about 100 Central Park South. Trump ponders his options. He likes to go big. “modest” isn’t my favorite word


He runs into rent-control laws and situations. He thinks that those who benefit from rent-control are not the poor, but the rich. Those who keep their large apartments for a long period of time will have below market rents. He names names of those who think are taking advantage of such laws.


The tenants formed a union. Trump says that he did not resort to tactics which other less moral landlords would do to get rid of tenants: That’s what I call harassment. I wouldn’t have done that sort of thing for moral reasons, nor would I have done it for practical reasons. I buy buildings in my own name, and I have a reputation to uphold. I wonder what moral code Trump subscribes to? So far I have not seen it.


The tenants claimed harassment. Trump says he did things mostly right. There were a few places where they made some minor issues. He lost those cases. He did evict people who were not paying. He feels this is reverse harassment.


11 Long Shot: The Spring and Fall of the USFL

He buys a professional football team in a league going underwater, the New Jersey Generals. He tries to turn it around. But by his own admission, he does not know anything about owning a football team. What he finds is that there are other owners who have to be treated like equals. But he still tries to bully and badger them to doing things his way. Which he may have a point since the league was not successful how the owners were doing things.


When it comes to making a smart decision, the most distinguished planning committee working with the highest-priced consultants doesn’t hold a candle to a group of guys with a reasonable amount of common sense and their own money on the line. What Trump does not understand is that there are other owners who also want their own way. So how do you settle that dispute? He also does not like consultants or polls-anything which will contradict what he thinks.


The USFL took the NFL to court for antitrust violations. While they won, but only $1. The league folded. But Trump felt that Pete Rozelle mumbled, stumbled, and spoke badly, he turned red, and he took back statements. At times he appeared to be flat-out lying. Trump talks about how people do not act or speak as well as him.


According to Wikipedia, Trump was to be the original owner, but backed out as he wanted an NFL team. Nothing is said about that in the Art of the Deal. Instead he bad mouths Peter Rozell.


12 Ice Capades: Rebuilding Wollman Rink

The city was not getting an ice rink built. Trump said he would do it at cost and within a short time period. Trump feels the city is incompetent-sounds like it, but he really does not get into why the delay and cost overruns. Koch belittles Trump’s offer. Press gets Koch’s response and has a field day with it, forcing Koch to accept Trump’s offer.


If that happens, he [politician] might have to go out and take a 9 to 5 job. That’s the last thing most politicians want to do. I think Trump sees things through a one dimensional view. He only sees the ambition, which is reflective of his own personality. The politicians I have known also have a caring side, a side which wants the best for the people whom they serve,


It is interesting that the next statement is on Koch that he’s a bully, pure and simple. What is Trump, if not a bully? He goes on and says that Bullies act tough, but they’re really closet cowards.


Leadership is perhaps the key to getting any job done.


Trump portrays himself as making this all possible. He does not mention the construction company with equal footing which made it possible (HRH Construction). Consequently HRH never worked on another Trump project.


It was a simple, accessible drama about the contrast between governmental incompetence and the power of effective private enterprise. From Trump, it sounds like private enterprise does not fail. But when you look at the previous two chapters, there is nothing but failures which Trump takes advantage of. And then there are a couple bankruptcies by Trump.


You don’t reward failure by promoting those responsible for it, because all you’ll get is more failure. This is talking about Bronson Binger who oversaw the failed construction project for the city. He resigned when it did not get down. But the State’s Dept of Corrections hired him later on. Trump does not seem to recognize these are two different entities.


13 Comeback: A West Side Story

He is talking about the West Side yards he bought from Penn Central. He goes through what a previous owner did to agree to provide things, expensive items, in return for agreement by various stakeholders. In the end, the person had given away too much.. Trump feels the reason why the previous owner sold him the property was because of a favor he did several years previous.


He says that he was making enough money to have banks happy to lend me money for nearly any deal. I wonder about now, will banks lend him money?


Deals work best when each side gets something it wants from the other. Once again, did he do this when he was President?

DONALD TRUMP’S LOFTY AMBITION -title of a Newsweek article on Trump. But could very well be the title of this book or even his life.


the only chance at success was to build a spectacular new hotel sheathed in reflective glass, so that it stood apart from the dull, older buildings in the neighborhood. The hotel became an enormous success . This seems to be his style-go for the spectacular. I wonder if there is a place in his life where he can be humble? But that is a very judgemental thought.


Trump has it out for anybody in New York City leadership. His style is to either think of himself better than anybody else or cut the superior person down.


14 The Week That Was: How the Deals Came Out

But in the end, you’re measured not by how much you undertake but by what you finally accomplish. Somewhat true. Not only by what you accomplished, but what you accomplished for good. And I would say, not only what you accomplished for good, but by reflecting God’s light.


He goes through things, deal by deal.


I don’t go out of my way to be cordial to enemies. One could say that Trump has mastered The Art of the Insult. Why love your enemies when you can insult them?


I said you can’t bet against Ivana, and she proved me right even sooner than I expected. Of course he did when he had an affair and there was a divorce from her



Evaluation:

No reader goes into reading a book as a blank slate. In my case, I am not a fan of Donald Trump as President. But one day I was wondering what the young Donald Trump said about making a deal and did his Presidency live up to that reputation?


Trump: The Art of the Deal is essentially a biography. Or maybe an autobiography depending on how much you think Donald Trump wrote. As such,he talks about how his accomplishments turning around properties became successes. It seems like the lessons Donald Trump presents are:

  •  Go Big
  • Get out of a deal before it goes bad
  • Do not rush into a deal
  • Trust your gut feeling

By reading this book, did I learn how to make a deal? No. Did I learn more about who Donald Trump is? Yes and I think I gained confirmation about his character and personality. Before Donald Trump became President, he said that President Obama and his Iran negotiators should have read this book. I am left wondering did President Trump follow his own advice? If so, what political or international deals did he make which he would write another book about?


  Good Quotes:
  • First Line: I don’t do it for the money.
  • Last Line: Don’t get me Wrong. I also plan to keep making deals, big deals, and right around the clock.
  • Leadership is perhaps the key to getting any job done. Chp 12 Ice Capades: Rebuilding Wollman Rink
  • Deals work best when each side gets something it wants from the other. Chp 13 Comeback: A West Side Story

  Table of Contents:

  • Acknowledgments vii
  • 1 Dealing: A Week in the life 1
  • 2 Tramp Cards: The Elements of the Deal 45
  • 3 Growing Up 65
  • 4 He Cincinnati Kid: Prudence Pays 81
  • 5 The Move to Manhattan 93
  • 6 Gland Hotel: Reviving 42nd Street 119
  • 7 Trump Tower: The Tiffany Location 145
  • 8 Gaming: The Building on the Boardwalk 195
  • 9 Wynn-Fall: The Battle for Hilton 225
  • 10 Low Rent, High Stakes: The Showdown on Central Park South 249
  • 11 Long Shot: The Spring and Fall of the USFL 273
  • 12 Ice Capades: Rebuilding Wollman Rink 301
  • 13 Comeback: A West Side Story 325
  • 14 The Week That Was: How the Deals Came Out 355
  • Index 369


References:

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