Latest / Real Donald Trump Wisdom / Wednesday at Trump Tower (1987)

Transcript

Wednesday at Trump Tower (1987) · Real Donald Trump Wisdom

• 0:00
  Hey guys, excited to be back for another day in Trump's schedule back in 1987.
• 0:05
  He's going to kick off his day at the War Mirror Inc, then go to Trump Tower and eventually
• 0:12
  speak about them tomorrow.
• 0:13
  Today we're going to explore a few lessons.
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  I'm going to mention them first here and then we'll go a bit deeper.
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  So when the request is in good faith and reasonable, be accommodating.
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  It's a loop.
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  Do business with people you appreciate.
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  Tell people you appreciate them.
• 0:29
  Set value.
• 0:30
  Know your worth and have a many options attitude.
• 0:32
  Have a long time horizon.
• 0:34
  Don't get too excited by the first offer.
• 0:36
  Think of small tasks you can do today that will save time, money, efforts or energy tomorrow.
• 0:42
  Be persistent, yet adaptable to evolving circumstances.
• 0:46
  Move quickly and decisively when the time is right.
• 0:49
  And trust for gut.
• 0:50
  Trust for gut is going to be a recurring theme throughout most of Trump's professional endeavors.
• 0:59
  So let's go in a bit more detail.
• 1:01
  So Trump starts his day by visiting schools with his wife Ivana for his daughter Ivanka.
• 1:10
  He's looking at private schools and kindergarten for his daughter.
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  He then goes to Wollman Rink.
• 1:21
  Wollman Rink is a project, it's an ice rink built at the beginning of Central Park in
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  New York.
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  The city had a hard time to get the project going.
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  It took years to not go very far.
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  Trump decided to, he couldn't stand the inefficiency and the bureaucracy and let's say the slowness
• 1:48
  of the enterprise and volunteered to build the project.
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  And essentially he came in in record time and under budget.
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  So something that took years was he was able to do in a matter of months.
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  And this echoes kind of his attitude towards efficiency and his desire to get things done
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  quickly and to go straight to the point in terms of actions and outcomes.
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  So he didn't understand why it took years for the city of New York.
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  He took the initiative, he thinks it's better for the city to have a functional rink and
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  that's now still a big attraction in Central Park and in Manhattan.
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  So we see the initiative came from him and he had basically at that stage he's invited
• 2:49
  to take pictures for the concrete pouring ceremony.
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  He decides to go along and to participate even though he's in a pinstripped suit.
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  So the lesson here is that when the request is in good faith and reasonable to be accommodating.
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  So we see Trump is willing to go to McDonald's as an employee for a day or to participate
• 3:24
  in WWE events.
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  He's close to the people that give him love.
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  He wants to, he engages with the public.
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  He doesn't disengage from the public.
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  He takes questions, he answers questions.
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  Actually it's his transparency that can sometimes, it can't be faulted for lack of transparency.
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  He's extremely transparent.
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  Even his book, you see him giving details not only on his schedule but details on his
• 3:54
  thought process and his intention.
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  So that's something he's always had.
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  And again this is when the requester is in good faith and reasonable.
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  It also has a great sense if the person, the request you see it's not coming from a good
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  place then you have zero obligations to be accommodating.
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  But if you see that it's from a good place then you can and probably should be accommodating.
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  Then he goes on to describe a business deal that he'd like to do.
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  So he wrote to an executive on the west coast, I'm going to read right now.
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  As you're aware, I wrote, there is no one I would rather do business with than Marty
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  Davis.
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  In the letter I explained to Marty that I'd recently purchased a fantastic site and was
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  in the midst of designing a building with eight motion picture theaters at its base.
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  And I wondered if he might be interested in making a deal for them.
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  Martin Davis is a truly talented man but there are also a dozen other companies who would
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  kill to have eight theaters in a top location.
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  In other words, if I can't make a deal I like with Marty I've got a lot of other options.
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  So here there's a couple of lessons.
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  First is to do business with people you appreciate and to tell people that you appreciate them.
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  So it's kind of a loop.
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  You appreciate people, you let them know you appreciate them, when there's opportunities
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  you bring into them and vice versa.
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  You'd rather do business with people you appreciate in general and we see that's what Trump does
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  here.
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  He's used to provide value.
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  Trump knows he has a great asset that can be exploited in different ways that could
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  be very lucrative for people interested in having movie theaters in the area.
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  And so he knows what he's bringing to the table.
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  He's providing value, he knows his worth and he also has a many options attitude.
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  So he's not tied down to a single person for a given outcome.
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  He prefers to do the deal with Marty but he's open to not doing it with him if Marty doesn't
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  want to do it or if the proposal is not going to be to his standard.
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  So he comes to the table with a know your worth and a have a many option attitude.
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  He has an attitude of plenty.
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  He's definitely not coming across as desperate to get the deal or to do it only with that
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  person.
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  He is polite and he has the intentions to highlight that he prefers doing business with
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  Marty Davis.
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  Secondly, now he's going to talk about the land that he purchased on the Hudson River.
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  The truth is I really don't want to sell the Hudson the yards at any price.
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  To me those 100 acres that were looking at the Hudson River are the best underdeveloped
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  real estate site in the world.
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  On the other hand, I don't want to rule out anything.
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  He said they were serious people and they were prepared to make me a very substantial
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  offer for the site.
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  Far more than the 100 million I paid a year ago.
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  I didn't get too excited.
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  On the contrary, I said to Arthur, the bid sounds low.
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  If you can get them higher, I might be interested.
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  Arthur tells me his clients are still very interested and they may come up a little,
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  but he does still go much higher.
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  Keep pushing, I tell him.
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  In this little sequence, we see first of all that Trump has a long time horizon.
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  He is not interested in just making a quick buck.
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  He sees the potential of the Hudson River, the land he has by the Hudson River.
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  He doesn't just want to sell for a profit right now.
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  He sees the potential.
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  Have a long time horizon.
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  There is a lesson here.
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  Secondly, don't get excited by the first offer.
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  Even though he paid 100 million for it and the offer brought forth is much bigger than
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  that, he is not necessarily excited.
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  He doesn't show excitement.
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  He says the bid sounds low.
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  If you can get them higher, I might be interested.
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  He knows he may have gotten it for a bargain himself, but he also knows the worth of the
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  property.
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  In any case, he doesn't show excitement at the first offer.
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  Now, another great lesson is to think of small tasks you can do today that will save time,
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  money, and effort or energy tomorrow.
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  Bob is getting a call from a contractor who is building his pool at Mar-a-Lago.
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  He says, I'm busy, but I take the call anyway.
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  We're going to great lengths to build a pool in keeping with the original design of the
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  house, and I want to make sure every detail is right, all of which is a long way of explaining
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  why I take this call from the pool contractor.
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  He has a small question about the matching of the Dorian stone we're using for the decking,
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  and I care about every detail when it comes to Mar-a-Lago.
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  The call takes two minutes, but it will probably save two days of work and ensure that the
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  job doesn't have to be ripped out and done over later.
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  We see sometimes a small effort today avoids much more work tomorrow or the day after.
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  Just answering the phone, giving certain information, being available to attend to a small task
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  can prevent a larger task.
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  We can apply this to other settings if we want.
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  Let's say small savings can't compound, later small improvements in health can't compound,
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  et cetera.
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  We can apply this to different areas of life here in the business sense, if there's a small
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  task that can prevent future hassle, take the time to do it.
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  Trump is going to explain the story of how he acquired Mar-a-Lago, and the lesson is
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  going to be to be persistent.
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  Persistent, yet adaptable to evolving circumstances.
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  This is very important.
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  I first look at Mar-a-Lago while vacationing in Palm Beach in 1982.
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  Almost immediately, I put in a bid of $15 million, and the asking price, by the way,
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  was $25 million.
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  It was promptly rejected.
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  Over the next few years, the foundation signed contracts with several other buyers at higher
• 11:00
  prices than I'd offered, only to have them fall through before closing.
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  Each time that happened, I put in another bid, but always at a lower sum than before.
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  Finally, in late 1985, I put in a cash offer of $5 million plus another $3 million for
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  the furnishings in the house.
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  Apparently, the foundation was tired of broken deals.
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  They accepted my offer, and we closed one month later.
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  The day the deal was announced, the Palm Beach Daily News ran a huge front page story with
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  the headline Mar-a-Lago's bargain price rocks community.
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  So Trump persevered, was persistent in his bids to acquire Mar-a-Lago, but he also saw
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  that with every passing bid, he put his bid lower.
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  So he went from $15 million to, at the end, $5 million plus $3 million, so $8 million
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  all in.
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  Because the owners of the property refuses bids, and he realized the market is not really
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  ... The other bidders don't have maybe the cash, don't have the financing.
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  He's realizing he's in a better position than he thought he was initially, that although
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  he refuses offer at $15 million, they don't have much better offers.
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  So he was comforted in the direction of his subsequent bids, and he eventually got it.
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  So then he continues.
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  Soon, several far more modest estates on property at fraction of Mar-a-Lago's size sold for
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  price in excess of $18 million.
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  I've been told that the furnishings in Mar-a-Lago alone are worth more than I paid for the house.
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  This goes to show that it pays to move quickly and decisively when the time is right.
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  Upkeep of Mar-a-Lago, of course, isn't cheap, but for what it costs each year, you could
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  buy a beautiful home almost anywhere else in America.
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  Here the lesson is to move quickly and decisively when the time is right.
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  So Trump had cash on hand, and as soon as the property caused his eye, he made a move.
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  He was receptive and followed the evolution of the deals that didn't go through for the
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  property, kept on bidding, and eventually got it.
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  So again, move quickly and decisively when the time is right.
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  For that, it could be a good idea to save a certain amount of cash to be able to pounce
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  on an opportunity when it occurs.
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  In any case, having cash on hand was very helpful for him to secure the purchase of
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  the beautiful property of Mar-a-Lago.
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  Again, we're going to conclude this one with the main lesson that comes from most of Trump's
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  interaction is to trust your gut.
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  So a friend of his calls him from Texas with a deal in the oil and gas field.
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  He gave me all the details, and it sounded very good.
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  I was all set to go forward.
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  The papers were being drawn up, and then one morning I woke up, and it just didn't feel
• 14:03
  right.
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  I called my friend back, and I said, listen, there's something about this that bothers
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  me.
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  This bill is underground, and I can't see it.
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  Or maybe it's that there's nothing creative about it.
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  In any case, I just don't want to go in.
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  And he said, okay, Donnie, it's up to you, but you're missing a great opportunity.
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  The rest is history, of course.
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  Oil went completely to hell several months later.
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  The company his group bought went bankrupt, and his investors lost every dime they put
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  up.
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  So Trump's going to say, that experience taught me a few things.
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  One is to listen to your gut.
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  No matter how good something sounds on paper.
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  The second is that you're generally better off sticking with what you know.
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  And the third is that sometimes your best investments are the ones you don't make.
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  Because I held back, I saved $50 million, the two of us have remained friends.
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  As a result, I don't want to reject him outright on his new deal.
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  Instead, I tell him to sign up the papers.
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  In reality, I'm not too likely to get involved.
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  So Trump shows again how much he relies on his gut.
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  Everything was signed.
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  It was ready to go.
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  But he said, listen, something's about this that bothers me.
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  And basically he said, I just don't want to go.
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  And he dropped out.
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  He listened to his gut, dropped out of the deal that could have been catastrophic, and
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  saved $50 million.
• 15:27
  So to wrap up, when the request is in good faith and reasonable, be accommodating.
• 15:35
  It's a loop.
• 15:36
  Focus with people you appreciate and tell people you appreciate them.
• 15:41
  Provide value, know your worth, and have a many options attitude.
• 15:46
  Have a long time horizon.
• 15:48
  Don't get too excited by the first offer.
• 15:51
  Think of small tasks you can do today that will save you time, money, efforts, or energy
• 15:57
  tomorrow or the day after.
• 16:00
  Be persistent, yet adaptable to evolving circumstances.
• 16:04
  As we saw with the different bids, he adapted his approach.
• 16:09
  Move quickly and decisively when the time is right.
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  Then trust your gut.
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  And I'll repeat his verbatim quote on the oil and gas experience.
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  That experience taught me a few things.
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  One is to listen to your gut, no matter how good something sounds on paper.
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  Two, the second is that you're generally better off sticking with what you know.
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  Three, and the third is that sometimes your best investments are the ones you don't make.
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  With that, I hope you enjoyed this Wednesday in Trump's life back in 1987.
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  And be sure to tune in for the next episodes.
• 16:49
  I appreciate it.