Success with Style

Chairman,

Trump

University

The style is the man himself.

-George Louis Leclerc

The glamour and grandeur of my buildings and my life are no mere trappings. Beauty and elegance, whether in a woman or a work of art, is not something superficial, not just something pretty to look at. It's a product of style, and it comes from deep inside. No matter how hard you try, you cannot buy style. Whether custom-made or off the shelf, good taste is not for sale. For me, style and success are completely interwoven. I wouldn't want to have one without the other.

When I'm going up to my office in Trump Tower, I enjoy looking down on the crowds of people ohhing and ahhing at the magnificent atrium I created. I realize that what I'm seeing is just the outward affect of the spectacle, the tourists' reaction to all that beautiful marble and the 80-foot waterfall. It's probably unlike anything they see back home, and it says "Trump" like few things do.

Even though I'll never actually see it, I also know something else is going on inside those tourists and glamour-hounds who flock to Trump Tower or the Taj in Atlantic City or any of my other properties that dazzle with their flair. These people are responding emotionally to the whole package. Whatever you want to call this reaction--a thrill or simply pleasure and appreciation--I like it, and I can tell you it's no accident. What they're really responding to is the style of my work. Style is what moves people, and style is what the best always have in spades.

Tiger Woods, a phenomenal golfer--and a good friend--has style. If he just sank a little ball in a little hole again and again, that wouldn't account for his popularity and, dare I say, his fantastic wealth. Another friend of mine, Tony Bennett, has more style than maybe anyone who ever set foot on a stage. He's a huge talent, certainly, and he has a fantastic set of pipes, undoubtedly. But it's his style that sells it. Talent without style can be mechanical. Competence without style is often just business as usual, and that's something I'll never be accused of.