Archive View (June 2005)

Chairman, Trump UniversityI never planned on becoming a brand name. Nevertheless, my wellspring of ideas, my own personal aesthetic, and a variety of circumstances have resulted in an expanding network of interests. Trump has ultimately become a great brand name due to my rigorous standards of quality. The Trump brand carries a promise that whatever bears the name will be elite. It all started with Trump Tower. I was originally going to call it Tiffany Tower, but good sense prevailed. Trump Tower is my signature building, and serves as the model for my idea of branding. From the start, I wanted more...

President, Trump UniversityTrump University launched at the end of May, and already we've been flooded with e-mails from people all over the world who want to partner with us in some way. Undoubtedly, the magic of the Trump name is largely responsible for this outpouring of interest. The enthusiastic response also shows that what we're offering has currency around the world. The global economy carries with it an urgent, ongoing need for business training with a global reach, which means practical, just-in-time learning that's available 24/7. Indeed, these inquiries from the four corners of the globe confirm that the Internet, for more...

Chairman, Trump UniversityRecently Gary Trudeau spent a week lampooning Trump University in his comic strip Doonesbury. The basic premise of each strip in the series revolved around the disparity between Trump University and a traditional university. It was vaguely funny in the first strip, and less funny in subsequent ones. Trump University has also been mocked in one of Jay Leno's monologues, in the New York Post's Page Six cartoon, and probably in a lot of other places. It's nice to see that my new venture is making a splash in popular culture. As they say, no press is bad press more...

Chairman, Trump UniversityMy greatest respect is for people who have experienced adversity and then come back. I was one of those people, in the early nineties. I went through a tough period and learned a lot about myself, and then came back bigger and better and stronger. It wasn't unlike what happened to Frank Sinatra in the early fifties. Like me, he lost focus. He took his eye off the ball and he made some bad decisions. (Also like me, it was the fairer sex that had a little something to do with his troubles, but that's another story for another more...

Chairman, Trump UniversityI have a real passion for learning. It grew out of my days as a student at the Wharton School and my professional experience. It became obvious to me early in my career that education gives a person an edge in business. People who are more educated--by which I mean not just formal education, but preparation in general--simply have an advantage. It's good common sense that risk--always an essential feature of business--is substantially reduced when you make an effort to learn everything you can about what you're getting yourself into.My books and seminars have always included a strong educational more...