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

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  Hey guys, very excited to be back with much better audio this time.
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  Audio you deserve.
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  Thank you for your time and for listening to this recording of Trump's accomplishments
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  and lessons we can take for our own lives.
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  So this is an exploration of a week at Trump Tower in 1987 as told in the art of the deal
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  and we're on Thursday.
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  So Trump is going to start his day and meetings, phone calls.
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  9 a.m. he gets a call from someone who wants to join politics and essentially he tells
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  his friend that he should not be resentful to the winner and that he should instead join
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  him.
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  Essentially, if you can't beat them, join them.
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  Something that Trump applied early on, he was one of the first donors to Chuck Schumer
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  as he reminded him recently.
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  He was also friendly with the Clintons back in the day.
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  Hillary Clinton came to his wedding in 2005.
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  So he always respected people who were successful and he does feel that in general it's good
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  to join with successful people.
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  So that's the advice he recommended to his friend.
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  Now the second point we see here is he gets a call from his investment banker and it's
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  about the share price of Holiday Inn.
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  In that conversation, we see that Trump has very sharp instincts, basically understands
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  that if the price goes down and look how subtle this is.
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  He says that if the price goes down, he's willing.
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  It's good for him because he's going to be willing and able to buy more.
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  If the price goes up, he's going to make a lot of money because he does have a significant
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  stake in that hotel chain.
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  So we see that he's attuned to his instincts.
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  A lot of people, the first instinct when price goes down may be to panic and not want it
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  to go down further.
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  So to kind of sell out, we know that we are more sensitive to price falls than to price
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  increases.
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  It hurts twice as much to lose money than we enjoy getting the same amount.
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  So we do have kind of a bias for loss aversion and that's kind of natural if you want to
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  survive.
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  You don't want to have too much downside in general.
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  But Trump here has sharp instincts because he knows that if the price goes down, it's
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  an opportunity for him to double down on his ownership stake.
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  And if it goes up, he knows there's upside basically.
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  If it goes up, he can just make a hefty profit.
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  Here we see that Trump is sensitive to optics.
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  So he has an incredibly sharp lawyer presenting him for an antitrust case.
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  He used to have a minor league football team and he will eventually say that it's better
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  to just join the NFL right away.
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  It's something that he thinks it was better to go straight to the NFL instead of trying
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  to build from a smaller league.
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  But in any case, his lawyer is overdressed and he feels that his lawyer being, although
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  he's extremely competent, the fact that he's too well dressed for the jury may play against
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  him.
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  So he's sensitive to optics here.
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  So here are the Wynn hotels and casinos.
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  So Steve Wynn is one of the best gaming guys in the United States and he has the top talent.
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  Trump basically wants to hire the best from the best and he needs someone to do a similar
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  job that he knows the person has experience for.
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  And he doesn't hesitate to recruit top talent.
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  Of course, that is with mutual consent.
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  He made an attractive offer that person accepted.
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  Essentially he knows that paying a premium for top talent can be justified.
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  And if you look at a more recent era, Netflix is known to pay in the 900Ks plus for top
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  engineering talent and their leadership is often going to say that an engineer who's
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  really in the top percentile is much better than an engineer in the middle percentile,
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  but in a significant difference in terms of output and outcomes.
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  So sometimes paying more is worth it when the talent really is exceptional and different
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  from the rest.
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  Again, there's going to be reference to optics.
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  So Trump has voluntarily built the Wolman rink, the ice rink by Central Park.
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  He took it over from the city, let's say the apartment that didn't manage to do the job
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  for years and for a lot of money.
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  And he did it very quickly.
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  And that's one of the achievements he's very proud of.
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  So there was a press conference to announce that it had been done.
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  And that was Wednesday.
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  But Trump knows that the public really wants to see the concrete pouring.
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  I guess that's like a phase to officialize a certain progress or completion in the rendering
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  of the rink.
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  And he knows that the cameras, the public really wants to see that, the concrete pouring.
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  So again, this is something that's recurrent in Trump's career.
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  He's willing to go at McDonald's, you can say a photo op, but it's really he knows what
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  the crowd wants to see.
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  He engages with the crowd like he did when he participated in a Wrestlemania or WWE event.
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  So he understands what appeals to the crowd.
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  And that's also if you see in Trump Tower, it's one of the few buildings owned by a billionaire
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  that you can actually go inside and enjoy the lobby, enjoy stores, enjoy take a coffee,
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  enjoy the waterfall, the beautiful stones that he imported.
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  There aren't many billionaires that you can just walk into the location where they live
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  and just enjoy.
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  So he made a public space out of where he lives.
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  And this just shows that you really understand what appeals to the public.
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  Here's another Trump's relationship to the press.
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  So he says, I understand that getting press can be very helpful in making deals.
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  I don't mind talking about them.
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  I just try to be very selective.
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  So he's going to speak to very prestigious media.
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  He knows that media is an important vector to get some points across.
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  So he's had a long relationship with the mainstream media.
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  Actually he used to work and The Apprentice was aired on NBC.
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  He was very much appreciated by people ranging from Oprah to the cast of The View.
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  So you can look that up on YouTube.
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  He was a favorite among these mainstream hosts.
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  So in any case, one of the things that Trump repeats throughout his books is that no one
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  will know your achievements unless you tell them.
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  So he is upfront about saying what he has done, what he plans on doing.
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  No one will find out your accomplishments unless no one knows your achievements better
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  than you do.
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  And it is kind of on you to let people know your accomplishments, what you have in mind,
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  what you plan to do.
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  Of course, to be very smart about it.
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  Trump plays chess, doesn't play checkers.
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  So he knows, controls the flow of information is something that he knows how to do well.
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  But in general, people don't know your success unless you tell them, of your successes unless
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  you tell them.
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  So Trump knows how to use the media on that front.
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  And again, he keeps it very brief.
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  Here's a nod to pragmatism.
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  So Trump had a very talented person representing him with City Hall for his project by the Hudson
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  River, so the West Side Yards.
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  And unfortunately, the person he had kind of running his team wasn't getting much done.
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  It wasn't getting great traction with the city.
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  And Trump eventually hired someone who had worked for the city planning commission and
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  who had been part of the team with whom he's negotiating.
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  And that's a nod to pragmatism.
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  So he's conscious that he has great talent on board with him, but that the logistics
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  for that deal requires a fresh perspective or someone who has a better relationship with
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  the team on the other side of the table.
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  And Trump wasn't dogmatically attached to the person.
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  Of course, he's someone who's extremely loyal, but he knows how to get things done too.
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  And in that case, just a practical sense and put someone who could get things done instead.
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  And finally, here we see Trump shows the quality of patience.
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  He knows that if the deal doesn't go through with this city planning commission, this current
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  city administration, all he has to do is wait for the next round of maybe elections, the
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  next team that's going to take over the city administration and negotiate with them because
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  he's confident in the value of his assets, value of properties on the plan that he has
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  for the city on that side of the Hudson River.
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  And he knows that if they're not going to be smart enough to get things done with him,
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  he'll be able to get it done with the next team.
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  So a major part of the deal is to be willing to walk away, to not want to do it at any
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  cost, to do it at the right cost and the right price.
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  And here he shows he's willing.
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  If he's willing to make concessions, that's fine, but he's not willing to do it at absolutely
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  any cost.
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  And if it takes patience, he'll show patience.
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  And to conclude his day, here's a nod to his respect for religious figures.
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  He excuses himself early because he's due to an early dinner and he doesn't want to
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  be late.
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  So he's invited at the St. Patrick's Cathedral and he's invited by the Cardinal.
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  He says at the end of the dinner, it's hard not to be a little odd.
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  We talk about politics, the city, real estate and a half dozen other subjects.
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  It's a fascinating evening.
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  As we leave, I tell Ivana, his wife, how impressed I am with the Cardinal.
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  He's not only a man of great warmth, he's also a businessman with great political instincts.
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  So he says this after having dinner with him and a half dozen of his top bishops and priests
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  in a private dining room at the St. Patrick's Cathedral.
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  We see here that Trump respects the Cardinal in his position and also appreciates just
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  in general people that have great political instincts and who are great businessmen, people
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  that know how to run organizations, how to get things done, how to get along with people.
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  This is basically what someone who's in business, one is good in politics, should be able to
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  do.
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  And as a recap on all of the above, here's what we learned today.
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  The side with winners.
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  So if you can't beat them, join them.
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  Tune into your instincts.
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  It's something that's going to be recurring.
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  Trust your instincts and tune into your instincts.
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  Your instincts are things that make you win or survive.
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  So you want to be sensitive to that.
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  Be adaptable to your environment.
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  So if you know that the crowd prefers seeing the concrete pouring instead of just a press
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  conference, be attuned to that.
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  Hire the best from the best.
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  That speaks for itself.
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  Understands what appeals to people, as we mentioned that earlier.
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  Leverage immediate to your advantage.
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  Getting press can be very helpful in making deals.
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  Be pragmatic.
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  Be patient.
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  Show respect to religious leaders.
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  And if you want to get respect from people like Trump, the quality you should cultivate
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  is warmth and a good political instinct.
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  Basically getting along with people effectively and being amicable at the same time.
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  So being someone that people like being around while being in a position where you get things
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  done.
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  There is a sweet balance in that and it's something that Trump respects and admires.