Donald Trump Exclusive Insight

Some people have taken shots at you, but you always come out the winner. How do you do that?

People take shots at people, in many cases, because they’re jealous. Usually, if they don’t respect a person they don’t respect themselves. I view this jealousy as a badge of honor for being successful. I get great raves, but I also get shots taken at me. In many cases—unnecessarily, in some cases—I deserve to have those shots taken. In business, at this level, you have to expect that.

I noticed you’ve got pretty thick skin. Has anybody ever really angered you to the point it didn’t roll off as easily?

Rosie O’Donnell never angered me because nobody ever has her back. She’s a bully and she’s a slob. She would hit Tom Selleck, she would hit Kelly Ripa, she would hit other people, she would say nasty things and they wouldn’t fight back. I never understood that. I gave our Miss USA winner Tara Conner a second chance, as she was having drug and alcohol problems, to put it mildly. I gave her a second chance. To take her crown away would have been a very devastating thing. Rosie O’Donnell went crazy that I gave her a second chance. Rosie questioned who I was to do that. I didn’t even know her; although, she did come to one of my weddings, so I know her a little. She’s a disgusting human being. Instead of taking it like many of the others she tried to bully, I hit her back very hard. I explained to the world that she’s not very smart, that she’s a disgusting person, a terrible human being and a bully, and that nobody stood up to her with the truth before. I guarantee you Rosie O’Donnell wished that she had never attacked me. Other people she attacked had not fought back. With me, if somebody attacks me, I stand up for what is right. I tell people to hit back. We’re here for a certain period of time—hit back, it’s more fun!

How is the economy impacting the gaming industry? I’ve heard all sorts of numbers thrown around with breakeven occupancy not being met for the hotels.

Generally, the gaming industry is doing very poorly. If you look at the gaming industry, Las Vegas is doing poorly, Atlantic City is doing poorly. Generally, casinos are not doing well. Many of them are in bankruptcy. I believe a lot of gaming companies will be going into bankruptcy. The economy, travel and all of the other things have really hit the gaming industry hard.

How has President Obama impacted gaming and hospitality for the Wynns, Adelsons and Trumps of the world?

The president telling people not to go to casinos was a killer. The people in Las Vegas were not thrilled, especially the mayor, who’s a great guy, actually. That was a tough one. You do have the casinos just buttoning up. The business is not there and it might not be there for awhile, but, eventually, it will come back. At some point it’ll come back. It was pretty tough when the president said, essentially, you’re not supposed to be in Las Vegas. That was not very nice.

Have you ever thought about running for any office?

They wanted me to, over the years, and they want me to right now. But I just love what I’m doing so much, Geoff. I enjoy it, it’s creative, it’s wonderful. I’m buying a lot of assets right now. We’re in a buying mood. Maybe in five years you’ll interview me and you’ll say, “You made a mistake, you should have waited.” And maybe I should have waited because the world seems like it’s going to hell. You look at Europe, you look at everything that’s happening, it really does seem bad. But we have just opened up and we’re starting to buy, so we’ll see if I’m right. I may be early.

When you said that they want you to run for office, was that for New York?

A lot of people want me to run for different offices, and yes, New York was certainly one those. Some want me to run for higher offices, too. I just like what I’m doing.

Do you think Meg Whitman has a chance in the gubernatorial race with Jerry Brown?

I think Meg would have a good chance. She is a great businessperson, she did a great job with her company and I hope people really understand that. Most people don’t know who she is; although, her advertising has been massive in California. I think she would have a decent chance. She is running against somebody who’s very formidable. Jerry Brown is a very underrated guy. He’s smart, he’s cunning, he’s been around a long time, and these are cunning people. But it’s going to be interesting to watch—if she wins the primary—how she does against Jerry Brown.

How is the New York real estate market doing? Are there any good values?

I think the New York market has been doing really well. It is very strong relative to everywhere else. The New York real estate market is the most underrated market. It has always been a good market, but people don’t realize how well it’s doing. It’s doing exceptionally well. I own many fine buildings in New York and they just seem to be doing very well. I don’t read bad stories about New York, but I don’t read really good stories and that’s a shame; it’s a great market.

How do you think the changes to the capital gains laws are going to impact developers?

It certainly won’t be a positive. Anytime you raise taxes that directly affect business it has a negative impact on everyone. The changes to the capital gains and other tax increases being considered will not be a positive.

Things have gotten a lot more conservative with valuations and appraisal methodologies. Do you think the experts have overreacted? Have they become too conservative in the valuation process with real estate?

I think mark-to-market has been a very bad thing for the banks because I’m not sure it’s a valid practice. Determining a building’s value monthly is not the way it works in the real world. You have an asset and it doesn’t just go on a quick monthly basis or even a yearly basis. Had mark-to-market not been in effect, you may not have had the problems that you had with the world, such as with Lehman Brothers and the others. Now, you have to worry about more than companies —now you have to contend with countries and governments. This is more difficult than dealing with companies. Think about the psychology of what’s going on in the Gulf plus the psychology of what’s going on with Greece—their people rioting in the streets. How are the people in Germany going to handle the issue of what is going on in Greece? Where does it all end? Take a place like California, which is a total mess. Governor Schwarzenegger can’t be happy with the job he has done. You look at what’s going on with their economy and it’s very, very sad.

Who do you think is the greatest entrepreneur of all time?

If it were all time, you would have to go back to the Carnegies, the Vanderbilts. Today, you can look at Bill Gates with his wonderful Microsoft or Steve Jobs and what he’s done at Apple. There’s so many great entrepreneurs. I don’t think you can ever pick one. It would make more sense to pick the top 100 and then choose the greatest in different industries. For instance, Microsoft is of no interest to me because I love real estate. Technology, to Bill Gates, is everything. You have to love what you do. Bill Gates loves all of that. Steve Jobs loves all of that. A guy like me, I don’t. I like other things, but we are all good at what we love.

When you look at people who have done a lot with very little, who would you put up at the top of the list?

You have to say Bill Gates and Steve Jobs both are at the top. Everything Jobs touches just turns to gold. Jobs was thrown out of Apple and it was run by somebody else. It went down the tubes. Jobs came back and he took it up to a level that nobody thought was possible. If you look at what he’s done, it’s incredible.

What direction do you think real estate is going to be moving in the next three to five years?

I think real estate will go up. You have different components to real estate. You have the New York stuff, which is the real estate I’m mostly involved in. Then, you have the housing market. I think the housing market will be slow for a while, but, eventually, it will go through the roof. I really believe now is the time for real estate. I used to tell people two to three years ago to stay out of the market. I gave speeches telling people not to invest and that it was a bubble. I’ve received many letters from people saying, “Thank you. I went to your speech, you warned us and we listened.” I have heard from others who ignored my advice and invested and then watched the market crash. I warned people not to take these exploding mortgages. You get this wonderful mortgage and, unfortunately, in four years, you lose your house. I would do speeches in front of thousands of people and I know a lot of people appreciated the advice. Now is the right time to go for real estate. I believe real estate is going to be going up. It may stay down for a while, but I don’t think it will be that long. Real estate is tangible. You can touch it—it’s there.

This is your passion.

It is my passion. You can touch it. When it works, it’s easy money, but when it doesn’t work, it’s pretty ugly. I’ve always liked something I could see and touch.

I was with Mark Cuban in his bunker before a Mavericks vs. Grizzlies game. Your name came up because you were one of the entrepreneurs in our interview queue. Mark mentioned that you guys don’t always see eyeto- eye, that you’d had some friction. He was quick to let me know that he respects you a lot. What do you think your similarities and differences are?

Mark and I may be similar because we’re both combative guys. I have a great respect for him. The next time you talk with him I would appreciate it if you let him know that. I think he’s an amazing guy. He’s somebody who knew when to sell. He made this incredible deal. He wasn’t foolish like others who rode their stock down. I think he made the comment: “Anybody that would pay that much for a company, I don’t want to be in business with.” He sold very quickly, thereafter. Mark is a terrific guy and a great entrepreneur. I want to see his basketball team win because he deserves it. He has done an amazing jobwith the team and I think he has done a great job with everything he does. But he is a controversial guy, he is a very competitive guy, and a lot of people don’t like that. They don’t like controversy, they don’t like a guy who’s in your face and competitive. But that is part of what makes Mark Cuban an amazing guy.

What do you think the differences are between big business and small business and what do you think the similarities are?

I think businesses are very similar, regardless. There aren’t that many differences. A business is a business; decisions are decisions. They all have to be managed. The better you can control and manage your business, the bigger it can grow.

What is it like to wake up and be Donald Trump? How does it feel when you are shaving, look in the mirror and realize a famous face is looking back at you? What is it like to be a business icon?

I’m honored by your question, but I don’t really think about it that way. I wake up and I shave and I use a mirror and all of that stuff. I go to work in my office area. I work late. I employ a lot of people. I provide for a lot of education. We provide lots of everything. It feels good providing lots of employees with an income and giving them a check every week. Many families depend on our health care. It makes me feel good. I know that we help a lot of people. A couple of my employees’ wives have cancer and they are being well taken care of because they have a good program under the Trump Organization and I’m happy about that. I just feel I have done a really good job. I have created a lot of quality and I have given a lot of people jobs.

Thank you, Donald.

Thank you, Geoff. It was my pleasure.