Part 6 (2/2)

Guys like Ailes understand that ratings rule. When I have friends with television shows that aren't doing well, they just can't understand why they're being canceled. I tell them this: I have learned that entertainment is a very simple business. You can be a horrible human being, you can be a truly terrible person, but if you get ratings, you are a king. If you don't get ratings, you are immediately canceled and nothing else will matter.

I happen to get ratings, and always have. Larry King used to tell me, ”You get the highest ratings.” Everybody wants me to be on their show, not because they like me, not because I'm handsome and have great hair, but because I get ratings. To tell you the truth, I'm not exactly sure why. I don't want to be provocative, and in many cases I try not to be provocative. But I think the reason millions of people follow my views on world events is because they know I understand that our country is being ripped off by OPEC, China, and other countries. They know America is in big trouble if we don't get back on the right track. And they know I'm not afraid to tell it like it is. It's not that they like or love me-it's that they respect what I have to say, believe the same thing themselves, and know that I'm right.

I'm also told that many people have a general interest in the details of my life and the people I work with in show business, particularly since they've seen all the amazing talent I've had on Celebrity Apprentice. It's always fun to see the kinds of questions people ask in the letters and emails my office receives. I enjoy working with stars and seeing their careers grow.

One of the most interesting and special people I've gotten to know is Lady Gaga. About five years ago, when she was a total unknown, Lady Gaga was the entertainment for the Miss Universe Pageant, which was held that year in Vietnam. I own the Miss Universe Pageant and have made it very, very successful. One day my people came to me and told me about a young woman they called Lady Gaga who n.o.body had ever heard of. We put her on as the entertainer in the middle of the pageant, which is broadcast internationally. I thought, ”Wow, she is really, really good.” The next day, it was crazy. Everybody was talking about how good Lady Gaga was-”Who is she, where is she? She's going to be someone big, she's amazing!” Well, she became a big star and maybe she became a star because I put her on the Miss Universe Pageant. It's very possible, who knows what would have happened without it, because she caused a sensation.

A couple years later, she opened in New York and was hotter than ever at Radio City Music Hall. I was there and happened to be sitting with a large group of very major celebrities. I won't mention their names because I'm not looking to embarra.s.s anybody. Gaga gave a fantastic performance and, after she was finished, her manager came and shouted, ”Mr. Trump, Gaga wants to see you, but only you, n.o.body else can come.” Now, here you have major singers, musicians, and television personalities and the manager is shouting to me, ”Mr. Trump, only you and n.o.body else.” I went back with my wife, Melania, and talked to Lady Gaga for about forty-five minutes. She's a fantastic person, solid as a rock, and I'm very proud of her success because I really believe I had at least something to do with it.

No matter if you're talking about media from the entertainment world or news shows, the media bookers all try to get me on their programs to help boost their ratings. Because I operate in both entertainment TV and current events shows, I have a keen understanding of how various moves affect ratings. For instance, I told Jeff Zucker, who previously ran NBC, ”Jeff, don't move Jay Leno. He's #1 in the evening and when you are #1, you don't move. In fact, not only is he #1, he is a strong #1. Don't move Jay Leno-it is a terrible mistake.”

I warned them that it would be the first time in history somebody's going to be taken out of the #1 position and moved and told them it would turn Leno into the equivalent of a lame duck president. In any event, they did it and Conan went on. To put it mildly, it didn't work. Jay went back to his original time and has never been the same again. His show's ratings are way down from what they were-he has never fully recovered.

I was actually doing the Jay Leno Show the night he was told that this move was going to be made and, even though it wasn't going to take place for five years, I could see that he was devastated, confused, and didn't know why they were doing it. I didn't either. It turned out to be possibly the greatest mistake in broadcast history.

Politics and television are nasty businesses. When the two collide, things get even nastier. As an example, Jay Leno-he knocks the h.e.l.l out of me on the show but always wants me to be on. The interesting thing is, even the ones that really go after me want me on the show for one reason and one reason only: I am a ratings machine.

Still, no matter how good your ratings are, sometimes you can't stop the press from running stories that are totally false but that they know will grab viewers or readers. To show you how dishonest the press is, I recently sold a house for $7.15 million. It was a house I had built at my great Trump National Golf Club in Los Angeles. The home is in a beautiful location fronting the Pacific Ocean with views of the course. This house was originally built for someone else who was unable to get financing from our country's wonderful banks and defaulted on $1.5 million. The house, which is one of seventy-five lots I own facing the ocean, cost me very little above that amount, so I had the house for almost nothing.

I listed the house for $12 million knowing I couldn't get anywhere near that but figuring it's a great way to negotiate. The buyer paid me $7.15 million, which was a substantial profit on that individual parcel.

The dishonest press smelled blood. Headlines raged that I had taken a major haircut on my home, as if I were selling my own personal house, not one of many in the development. In actuality, I had only been inside the house one time for five minutes to check it out. But it didn't matter. We tried to correct the newspapers, but the Los Angeles Times and others got the story totally wrong. In fact, one reporter told one of my lawyers that he knew we were right, that it wasn't my personal house, and that he knew the sale was almost all profit. ”So why did you write it that way?” my lawyer asked. ”Because it doesn't make for a good story,” the reporter told him. That's how dishonest the press can be.

The Presidency

In all my years in business and partic.i.p.ating in politics I've never seen the country as divided as it is right now-and I've seen bad times. Voters' hatred of both Democrats and Republicans is beyond anything I have ever witnessed. A great leader can bring America together. But unfortunately for us, Barack Obama is not a leader. So who can the country turn to?

I have been saying for a long time that it is very hard for a truly successful person to run for political office. Your rivals and the press will take every deal you've ever made, even the best of them, and make them look bad. You could have built a $7 billion+ net worth, but it doesn't make any difference, because they will make you look as foolish as possible. A guy like Obama has it much easier. He had never done a deal before except for the purchase of his house which, in my opinion, was not an honest transaction. A smart investigative reporter should definitely look into that because any objective examination of the facts reveals there was definitely something fishy going on. But that was the only deal Obama ever did. He hasn't done hundreds of deals like very successful people do, where we employ thousands of people and have to manage numerous complex enterprises. So he had an easier go of it.

Mark Burnett, my good friend, partner, and the best producer in television, really wanted me to continue with The Apprentice and not run for president. Mark's big shows are The Apprentice, Survivor, and now the hit show The Voice. He said, ”Donald, I think you would be an incredible president, but you are far too successful to run. You've done too many deals and too many things. They'll go after every single deal you've ever done and, even on the best of them, will try to make you look bad.”

So essentially, Mark was voicing what I had been saying for the last two years-that a very successful person cannot run for political office (especially the presidency) and isn't that sad, because that's the kind of person and thinking we need to bring the country back.

Either way, when I was leading in the polls, I committed an unforced error. I was asked by a friend to make a speech in Las Vegas in front of a small group. I agreed. A couple hundred people were expected, mostly Republican women, and it was no big deal. Or so I thought. But when they announced that I was going to speak, thousands of people showed up. The owner of the hotel, a great man named Phil Ruffin, one of the smartest investors around, told me it was the most people they had ever packed into the ballroom at the hotel. The place was mobbed. Everybody was happy. They were thrilled, and in the room you had lots of good, tough Las Vegas people who I can't believe will ever vote for Obama, especially after he told people not to go to Las Vegas.

We had thousands of people there, it turned out to be wild, and I made a mistake. I catered to that crowd. They absolutely loved the speech and I used some foul language which, with that crowd, went over phenomenally well. But unfortunately they had cameras in the room, which I didn't see, and only those parts of the speech where I used strong language ended up being shown through our nation.

I wish I hadn't done it. It got a lot of press but some people were turned off by it. I'm not a big curser but it did take place, and I will say the people in the room loved that speech, because we're not living in a baby world. It's a rough, mean world where everybody's out to get everybody else and where other countries are out to get the United States, and they are doing a pretty good job of it. So I got fired up and the crowd did too.

Of course, Joe Biden dropped the f-word in front of the entire media on a stage with the president. But Biden gets a pa.s.s because he's with Obama, and as we all know, Obama can do no wrong in the media's eyes.

In my opinion, our president is totally overrated both as a person and as a campaigner. The press has given a false impression of him as a brilliant student (which he was not), a brilliant leader (which he is not), and a campaigner the likes of which we have not seen in many years. Yet now many Democrats are suffering buyer's remorse and wish they had elected Hillary Clinton instead.

Regardless, the Republicans are going to have a very tough race. Obama is harnessing all of the negativity he created and flipping it back on the people-a very smart, if cynical, strategy. I've never seen anything like it. The guy is willing to rip the country in half to win. Sadly, it may prove to be a winning strategy. If I were doing as badly as he is, I would realize it is my only road to victory.

I love my life and businesses, so I would rather not run for president. When people say I should run as an Independent, I remind them that it's very hard for an Independent to win, though perhaps easier than ever before. Still, if the economy continues to be bad (which I think it will, due to incompetent leaders.h.i.+p) and Republicans pick the wrong candidate (which I hope they won't), I can't completely rule out a run. Most people have never heard of a very stupid law-called equal time-that prevents someone with a major television show from running for political office. So Obama is allowed to go on television every day and can fly around the country any time he wants at taxpayer expense, but I'm not allowed to do The Apprentice and run for office at the same time. You tell me, is that right? Were it not for that ridiculous law I would probably be running for president right now and having a good time doing it-because America has tremendous potential, unbelievable potential, and it is being wasted.

I distinctly remember when I made my decision to sign for another season of The Apprentice, which put my run for the presidency on hold. It was a Friday about 7:00 p.m., and Melania was watching Entertainment Tonight, Access Hollywood, Extra, or one of the various entertainment shows she enjoys and frankly so do I. I sat down at the dinner table with the television blaring and watched as some of the biggest actors and actresses in Hollywood were hoping that their networks would pick up their show for another season. You see, the following Monday, NBC was having its big ”Upfront” where they and the other networks announce their schedules for the year. So this was a tough time for actors because they wanted to know if their shows were going to be renewed.

As Melania and I were watching, I'm seeing these big stars saying, ”I hope they renew our show, our show is so great, our cast is so amazing, the ratings are okay.” Everything was, ”I hope, I hope, I hope,” and I'm watching these major actors almost begging. That's when I said to my wife, ”You know, baby, it's amazing. I have a show that is a big success and I have the president of the network calling me all day long saying, 'Donald, Donald, we want you, we love you.'” In addition to that, I had a great guy named Steve Burke at Comcast saying to me something like, ”Donald, we'd like you to renew, we'd like you to go for another season or whatever you want, please renew.” So I am saying to myself, here these network executives are calling me on an hourly basis wanting me to renew my contract for another season of a two-hour hit show on primetime Sunday, and I am telling them no and yet I come home and I watch the entertainment shows and all of these big name actors and actresses are hoping beyond hope that they are going to be renewed. At that precise moment I got a call from Steve Burke reiterating the fact that they would love to have me sign the contract. Right then and there I said to my wife, ”Baby, you know what? This is ridiculous. I'm going to sign the contract with NBC.”

My wife, Melania, who is considered by many, including me, to be one of the most beautiful women in the world, has amazing instincts. For years I would ask her whether or not I could run and win. And she would say, ”Donald, people love you, but they wouldn't vote for you for president.” When I asked her why, she said, ”You're a little wild and a little too controversial. They respect you, they think you're really smart-the smartest of all-but enough people just wouldn't vote for you.”

So she told me this for a long period of time and then recently, as she's watching political news on television and seeing all the things that are wrong with our country, she looks at me and says, ”Darling, you know you'd win if you ran, don't you?” I said, ”What do you mean? You always told me I couldn't win.” She said, ”But now you could win, and maybe even easily. People really want you. I see it on the streets. People want you and they really need you.”

This was a great compliment coming from a very smart woman.

Some people have yet to realize how serious I was and am about running for the White House. In fact I was so close that I had already prepared the Public Financial Disclosure Report required of a presidential candidate. That's a big deal because the Trump Organization is a private company, and people don't know what I'm really worth. So I had the independent firm Predictive, which is used by government agencies and top companies like GM, Visa, Pfizer, and others, prepare valuations on branding, and we filled out the other areas of the long and complex presidential Public Financial Disclosure Report. So my forms were already completed when I told NBC I'd renew. I was ready to sign and submit the papers, which were completed in strict compliance with the instructions. Rather than waste the forms (and who knows, I may be filing them sometime later), I thought I would share the most important three pages with you in this book. These are three of the many pages of the completed submittal. The third summary page is probably the most important.

My primary reason for running for the presidency would be to straighten out the mess Obama has made of our country. I have built a truly great company, one with unbelievable a.s.sets and locations that I believe are about as good as it gets. We have great a.s.set value, cash flow, and very little debt. I want the American people to see this, because ultimately our country is, in a certain way, the exact opposite of my company. And whether it's me or someone else, we need the kind of thinking that can produce this kind of success. For the sophisticated financial people who already know me, these numbers come as no surprise. For the miserable, petty, jealous wannabes who knowingly fabricate stories about me, maybe this will shut them up.

Executive Branch Personnel PUBLIC FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE REPORT Donald J. Trump

Summary of Net Worth

As of June 30, 2010

By the way, in the spirit of transparency, these forms were completed before the very public purchase of the late billionaire John Kluge's winery, which became embroiled in controversy and tens of millions of dollars of debt after his divorce. Now called the Trump Vineyard Estates, the winery is located in one of the best areas in the United States, Charlottesville, Virginia. Trump Vineyard Estates is more than 1,000 acres and has already received a great amount of publicity in the Was.h.i.+ngton and Virginia press and was featured on the cover of Town & Country magazine. Originally, it cost around $150 million to build and a.s.semble. I bought it at auction for $6.2 million in cash. I pride myself on being liquid when few others are. That's one of the reasons I was able to buy the Kluge estate for such a terrific price-cash. There were many people at the foreclosure auction who knew what an amazing a.s.set it was, but they didn't have the cash or would need bank financing at a much higher amount to close the deal. By the way, the reason I have so much cash is that, among other things, I've made some of the best branding deals around, especially recently. If our government were as wise with our nation's cash, we wouldn't be in the big mess we are in today.

Some people think the presidency no longer matters, that the United States is finished. But let me tell you, the president makes all the difference in the world. If we get the right president, our country can become stronger and better and more successful than ever before.

The Republican field has several good candidates in the race-most of whom have come to see me at my office in Trump Tower. The reason they come to see me isn't just because I am a nice person but because millions of people listen to what I say and know I ”get it.” Some magazines have said I am the single most important endors.e.m.e.nt a presidential candidate can have. I don't know if that's true but it wouldn't surprise me. I don't say that to brag, I just tell it like it is.

It started when Sarah Palin came to Trump Tower. She is a terrific woman and gets an unfair shake from the media. We had a great conversation. She said, ”Hey, let's go out for pizza.” We did and it was bedlam, with tons of people swarming us. I got criticized because I ate my pizza with a fork. (The truth is, I know how to eat pizza but I was trying to eat as little as possible because I hate gaining weight!) But I really enjoyed my time with Sarah and her family. We caused quite a stir on the streets of New York and especially in front of that pizza parlor. It was wild!

Michele Bachmann came up to my office more than once. She is a real worker bee. She started low, shot to the top of the polls, and then dropped down again, probably because Rick Perry came in and stole a lot of her thunder. But Michele is a wonderful person and no matter what happens with her run for the White House she's got a great political future ahead of her. She's pa.s.sionate about America and a strong protector of traditional values.

When Rick Perry came to see me at Trump Tower we had a great discussion, and then went to Jean Georges Restaurant, probably the best restaurant in New York, which is located on the street level of Trump International Hotel and Tower at One Central Park West. We had an incredible conversation and I found him to be a good and personable guy, much different from what you see in the debates. Since then, I have spoken to him on numerous occasions, and every time I speak to him he is so forceful and strong that I have actually said to him: ”Rick, why can't you act this way during the debates?” He said, ”Donald, the debates are just not my thing.” So I said, ”Why don't you pretend you are someplace else? You gotta act different. You are getting killed in the debates.” But he repeated, ”Donald, they are just not for me.” Fair enough. But Rick was severely hurt by what took place in the debates. It was sad to see. The debates are turning out to be much more important in this presidential cycle than in past primaries, and if you don't do well in the debates, it's a long climb back to the top. But again, Rick is a terrific guy with some solid ideas. It will be interesting to see if he can regain his footing.

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