DONALD TRUMP-AMERICAN BUSINESS MAGNATE Over the years, Donald Trump, Chairman and President of the Trump Organization has become a master of situating himself in the limelight with out-spoken interviews, his books, his television show, and especially his king-size lifestyle. Nonetheless behind it all this lies a very sharp businessman. Someone who is a tough negotiator, someone who knows how to build a brand and simply someone who does all this while building successful working relations with others. This starts my essay on why I admire Donald Trump.
“I like thinking big. If you’re going to be thinking about anything, you might as well think big.” Donald Trump.
Entrepreneur Donald Trump, through set-backs, controversies and successes, is someone who comes to my mind as a person one can admire and emulate.
Donald John Trump was born in Queens, New York on June 14, 1946; the fourth of five children of Mary and Frederick Trump. Frederick (1905-1999) was himself a real-estate developer. Donald’s parent hoped a military school education would greatly benefit him, as it did Dwight Eisenhower, Ted Turner, and Douglas MacArthur to name a few and prepare him to enter the family business. Being an active and energetic child, his parents sent him to the New York Military Academy (est. 1889), located in the Cornwall-on-Hudson, at age 13. They hoped the academy’s discipline program would have an influence on him. By attending the military academy, which was a private boarding school, Trump did well both academically and socially. By the time he graduated in 1964, he was a student leader, earning academic honors, and a star athlete, playing both football and baseball. After graduating from the New York Military Academy in 1964, he entered Fordham University, but transferred, after only two years, to the University of Pennsylvania where, attending the prestigious Wharton School of Finance, he graduated with an Economics degree in 1968. It seems obvious that his father, Frederick, was a most influential person in Donald’s life. Being himself a real-estate developer, it was the starting point for Donald Trump to begin a career. In the summer, after graduation, Trump worked for his father’s business which was renamed Trump & Son. Trump & Son built middle-class rental housing in various boroughs of New York. Donald wanted to expand the company and he persuaded his father to borrow money based on the value of the existing apartment complexes. In 1971, Donald moved to Manhattan where he became associated with many influential people. He was beginning to understand that working through people and building solid relations was extremely helpful.
“If you build relationships with other people, it makes the deal work.” Donald Trump
The move to Manhattan contributed to Trumps’ many real estate successes while building his dream. In order to make dreams a reality, risk-taking is essential and Donald Trump was at his best. Penn Central Railroad was formed through a merger in 1968 but collapsed into bankruptcy by 1970. In order to buy the property, Donald found out the name of the key decision-maker at Penn Central Railroad. He telephone Victor Palmieri and asked for 15 minutes of his time. In that short period, he convinced Palmieri that the deal was good for the railroad and the city of New York. The two of them began a solid work relationship resulting in Palmieri convincing the city that the deal made sense. At that time, Trump had no track record of this magnitude, but through his assertiveness and honesty it swayed Palmieri, who became an important ally to Trump. From this deal, by 1974, Trump then acquired Penn Centrals’ oldest hotel, The Commodore. He signed a partnership with Hyatt Hotel Corp, who had no presence in New York, and completely renovated the building which opened in 1980 as the Grand Hyatt. Trump wanted to continue expanding and put together other real-estate deals. Over time, his property portfolio grew involving building projects which included incredible artwork and designs helping him gain publicity. By 1983, the world-renowned 68 story all-glass Trump Tower, located in mid-town Manhattan, was opened. It was designed by the architect Der Scutt (1934-2010). Scutt had been involved in other high-end projects including One Astor Plaza in Times Square and the United Nations Plaza. The Trump Towers was a huge success and very fruitful economically, for both the city of New York and his organization, which by now was renamed the Trump Organization. By doing just this, Trump became one of the most well-known and wealthiest developers in the country. Through his determination and persistence, he developed some of New York’s’ other well-known Trump-branded properties, including: Trump Place, Trump World Tower, Trump Park Avenue, and Trump SoHo. Simply, these luxurious building brought national attention to Trump by bringing in celebrities, celebrity rentals, and other well-recognized retail stores.
By the late 1960’s, many of Atlantic City’s once renowned hotels were suffering from high vacancy rates and the outskirts were looking shoddy as well. People were simply not going to Atlantic City as a resort attraction anymore. In an effort to rejuvenate the city, voters, in 1976, approved casino gambling. Trump was following this situation and wanted to expand into this revitalized community so he purchased a gambling license. He then began buying property and partnering with Holiday Inn Corporation. He later bought out Holiday Inn and in 1986 opened Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino. By 1990, he built the Taj Mahal Casino Resort at a cost of one billion dollars and had Michael Jackson perform at the inauguration. Through all this, in 1985, the Trump Organization bought 76 acres of property on the west-side of New York City and during the 1990’s and 2000’s built up the area with malls and luxury apartments. His next step was as television producer on the highly rated game show The Apprentice on N.B.C. television in 2004, lasting several years. Character ingredients including having a vision, determination, a passion, confidence and risk-taking make Donald Trump admirable. One character trait that does not gather publicity is his solid working relations with others. He has learned that you cannot go at it alone. I sense this involves a high degree of integrity in the man worth over $3 billion (Forbes magazine). These are traits I want to develop. Although most are displayed in my area of sports participation (basketball), as you need confidence and determination, I have to work more on these traits into my academic work. While Donald was influenced by his father, I am influenced by mine as well. Our discussions are centered on my character development and how to incorporate them into my collegiate life? I think you need a support system that keeps you on-track and he had his and I have mine. Nonetheless, from researching Donald Trump, I am more of an admirer of him than I was before. I think this was a rewarding assignment. This concludes my essay on Donald Trump.
“It’s very important that people aspire to be successful. The only way you can do it is if you look at somebody who is.” Donald Trump.
Work Cited
Think Big. By Donald Trump And Bill Zankar. 2007 Harpercollins. 10 February 2014.
Think like a champion. By Donald trump And Meredith Mciver. 2009 Vanguard Press. 10 February 2014.
Midas Touch: Why Some Entrepreneurs Get Rich And Why Most Don’t. By Donald J. Trump and Robert. 2011. 10 February 2014.

Trump: Think Like A Billionaire: Everything You Need To Know About Success, Real Estate, And Life. By Donald Trump. 2004. 10 February 2014.

Donald Trump: Master Apprentice. By Gwenda Blair. 2005. 10 February 2014.