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Trump: The Art of the Deal Hardcover – Illustrated, November 12, 1987
“Donald Trump is a deal maker. He is a deal maker the way lions are carnivores and water is wet.”—Chicago Tribune
“I like thinking big. I always have. To me it’s very simple: If you’re going to be thinking anyway, you might as well think big.”—Donald J. Trump
Here is Trump in action—how he runs his organization and how he runs his life—as he meets the people he needs to meet, chats with family and friends, clashes with enemies, and challenges conventional thinking. But even a maverick plays by rules, and Trump has formulated time-tested guidelines for success. He isolates the common elements in his greatest accomplishments; he shatters myths; he names names, spells out the zeros, and fully reveals the deal-maker’s art. And throughout, Trump talks—really talks—about how he does it. Trump: The Art of the Deal is an unguarded look at the mind of a brilliant entrepreneur—the ultimate read for anyone interested in the man behind the spotlight.
- Print length246 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherRandom House
- Publication dateNovember 12, 1987
- Dimensions6.37 x 1.1 x 9.39 inches
- ISBN-100394555287
- ISBN-13978-0394555287
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Review
“Donald Trump is a deal maker. He is a deal maker the way lions are carnivores and water is wet.”—Chicago Tribune
“Fascinating . . . wholly absorbing . . . conveys Trump’s larger-than-life demeanor so vibrantly that the reader’s attention is instantly and fully claimed.”—Boston Herald
“A chatty, generous, chutzpa-filled autobiography.”—New York Post
From the Inside Flap
TRUMP ON TRUMP: ?I like thinking big. I always have. To me it?s very simple: if you?re going to be thinking anyway, you might as well think big.?
And here?s how he does it: the art of the deal.
Beginning with a week in Trump?s high-stakes life, Trump: The Art of the Deal gives us Trump in action. We see just how he operates day to day?how he runs his business and how he runs his life?as he chats with friends and family, clashes with enemies, efficiently buys up Atlantic City?s top casinos, changes the face of the New York City skyline . . . and plans the tallest building in the world.
TRUMP ON TRUMP: ?I play it very loose. I don?t carry a briefcase. I try not to schedule too many meetings. I leave my door open. . . . I prefer to come to work each day and just see what develops.?
Even a maverick plays by rules, and here Trump formulates his own eleven guidelines for success. He isolates the common elements in his greatest deals; he shatters myths (?You don?t necessarily need the best location. What you need is the best deal?); he names names, spells out the zeros, and fully reveals the deal-maker?s art: from the abandoned property that became the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center to the seedy hotel that became the Grand Hyatt; from the race to rebuild Central Park?s Wollman Skating Rink to the byzantine saga of the property that became Trump Tower. And throughout, Trump talks?really talks?about how he does it.
TRUMP ON TRUMP: ?I always go into a deal anticipating the worst. If you plan for the worst?if you can live with the worst?the good will always take care of itself.?
Donald Trump is blunt, brash, surprisingly old-fashioned in spots?and always, always an original. Trump: The Art of the Deal is an unguarded look at the mind of a brilliant entrepreneur and an unprecedented education in the art of the deal. It?s the most streetwise business book there is?and a sizzling read for anyone interested in money and success.
From the Back Cover
TRUMP ON TRUMP: "I like thinking big. I always have. To me it's very simple: if you're going to be thinking anyway, you might as well think big."
And here's how he does it: the art of the deal.
Beginning with a week in Trump's high-stakes life, "Trump: The Art of the Deal gives us Trump in action. We see just how he operates day to day--how he runs his business and how he runs his life--as he chats with friends and family, clashes with enemies, efficiently buys up Atlantic City's top casinos, changes the face of the New York City skyline . . . and plans the tallest building in the world.
TRUMP ON TRUMP: "I play it very loose. I don't carry a briefcase. I try not to schedule too many meetings. I leave my door open. . . . I prefer to come to work each day and just see what develops."
Even a maverick plays by rules, and here Trump formulates his own eleven guidelines for success. He isolates the common elements in his greatest deals; he shatters myths ("You don't necessarily need the best location. What you need is the best deal"); he names names, spells out the zeros, and fully reveals the deal-maker's art: from the abandoned property that became the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center to the seedy hotel that became the Grand Hyatt; from the race to rebuild Central Park's Wollman Skating Rink to the byzantine saga of the property that became Trump Tower. And throughout, Trump talks--"really talks--about how he does it.
TRUMP ON TRUMP: "I always go into a deal anticipating the worst. If you plan for the worst--if you can live with the worst--the good will always take care of itself."
Donald Trump is blunt, brash, surprisingly old-fashioned in spots--and always, always an original. "Trump: The Art of the Deal is an unguarded look at the mind of a brilliant entrepreneur and an unprecedented education in the art of the deal. It's the most streetwise business book there is--and a sizzling read for anyone interested in money and success.
About the Author
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
A Week in the Life
IDON’T do it for the money. I’ve got enough, much more than I’ll ever need. I do it to do it. Deals are my art form. Other people paint beautifully on canvas or write wonderful poetry. I like making deals, preferably big deals. That’s how I get my kicks.
Most people are surprised by the way I work. I play it very loose. I don’t carry a briefcase. I try not to schedule too many meetings. I leave my door open. You can’t be imaginative or entrepreneurial if you’ve got too much structure. I prefer to come to work each day and just see what develops.
There is no typical week in my life. I wake up most mornings very early, around six, and spend the first hour or so of each day reading the morning newspapers. I usually arrive at my office by nine, and I get on the phone. There’s rarely a day with fewer than fifty calls, and often it runs to over a hundred. In between, I have at least a dozen meetings. The majority occur on the spur of the moment, and few of them last longer than fifteen minutes. I rarely stop for lunch. I leave my office by six-thirty, but I frequently make calls from home until midnight, and all weekend long.
It never stops, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I try to learn from the past, but I plan for the future by focusing exclusively on the present. That’s where the fun is. And if it can’t be fun, what’s the point?
MONDAY
9:00 A.M. My first call is to Alan (“Ace”) Greenberg, on the trading floor of Bear Sterns, a major Wall Street investment banking firm. Alan is the CEO of Bear Sterns, he’s been my investment banker for the past five years, and he’s the best there is. Two weeks ago, we began buying stock in Holiday Inns. It was selling in the 50s. As of this morning, Alan tells me, I own just over one million shares, or slightly more than 4 percent of the company. The stock closed Friday at $65 a share, mostly, Alan says, because word is out on the street that I’ve been a big buyer, and there’s speculation I am planning a run at the company.
The truth is I’m keeping my options open. I may ultimately go for control of Holiday, which I think is somewhat undervalued. At the current stock price, I could get control for less than $2 billion. Holiday’s three casino-hotels could be worth nearly that much—and the company owns another 300,000 hotel rooms besides.
A second option, if the stock price goes high enough, is to sell my stake and take a very nice profit. If I did that today, I’d already be up about $7 million. The third possibility is that Holiday may eventually offer to buy back my shares, at a premium, simply to get rid of me. If the premium is big enough, I’ll sell.
In any case, I enjoy seeing the lengths to which bad managements go to preserve what they call their independence—which really just means their jobs.
9:30 A.M. Abraham Hirschfeld calls me, looking for advice. Abe is a successful real estate developer but he wants to be a politician. Unfortunately for Abe, he’s a far better developer than politician.
This fall, Abe tried to run for lieutenant governor against Governor Cuomo’s hand-picked candidate, Stan Lundine. Cuomo led a court fight to get Hirschfeld off the ballot on technical grounds, and sure enough, halfway into the campaign, the court ruled Hirschfeld out. Abe knows I’m friendly with the governor, and he wants my advice now on whether he should endorse Cuomo or switch parties and endorse Cuomo’s opponent. I tell him it’s a no-contest question—stick with a winner and a good guy at that.
We set a meeting for Thursday.
10:00 A.M. I call Don Imus to thank him. Imus has one of the most successful radio shows in the United States on WNBC, and he’s been helping to raise money for the Annabel Hill fund.
I’m amazed at how this has snowballed into such a media event. It began last week when I saw a national news report by Tom Brokaw about this adorable little lady from Georgia, Mrs. Hill, who was trying to save her farm from being foreclosed. Her sixty-seven-year-old husband had committed suicide a few weeks earlier, hoping his life insurance would save the farm, which had been in the family for generations. But the insurance proceeds weren’t nearly enough. It was a very sad situation, and I was moved. Here were people who’d worked very hard and honestly all their lives, only to see it all crumble before them. To me, it just seemed wrong.
Through NBC I was put in touch with a wonderful guy from Georgia named Frank Argenbright, who’d become very involved in trying to help Mrs. Hill. Frank directed me to the bank that held Mrs. Hill’s mortgage. The next morning, I called and got some vice president on the line. I explained that I was a businessman from New York, and that I was interested in helping Mrs. Hill. He told me he was sorry, but that it was too late. They were going to auction off the farm, he said, and “nothing or no one is going to stop it.”
That really got me going. I said to the guy: “You listen to me. If you do foreclose, I’ll personally bring a lawsuit for murder against you and your bank, on the grounds that you harassed Mrs. Hill’s husband to his death.” All of a sudden the bank officer sounded very nervous and said he’d get right back to me.
Sometimes it pays to be a little wild. An hour later I got a call back from the banker, and he said, “Don’t worry, we’re going to work it out, Mr. Tramp.” Mrs. Hill and Frank Argenbright told the media, and the next thing I knew, it was the lead story on the network news.
By the end of the week, we’d raised $40,000. Imus alone raised almost $20,000 by appealing to his listeners. As a Christmas present to Mrs. Hill and her family, we’ve scheduled a mortgage-burning ceremony for Christmas Eve in the atrium of Trump Tower. By then, I’m confident, we’ll have raised all the money. I’ve promised Mrs. Hill that if we haven’t, I’ll make up any difference.
I tell Imus he’s the greatest, and I invite him to be my guest one day next week at the tennis matches at the U.S. Open. I have a courtside box and I used to go myself almost every day. Now I’m so busy I mostly just send my friends.
11:15 A.M. Harry Usher, the commissioner of the United States Football League, calls. Last month, the jury in the antitrust suit we brought against the National Football League ruled that the NFL was a monopoly, but awarded us only token damages of one dollar. I’ve already let the better players on my team, the New Jersey Generals, sign with the NFL. But the ruling was ridiculous.
We argue about the approach we should take. I want to be more aggressive. “What worries me,” I say to Harry, “is that no one is pushing hard enough on an appeal.”
12:00 noon Gerry Schoenfeld, head of the Shubert Organization, the biggest Broadway theater owners, calls to recommend a woman for a job as an office administrator. He tells me the woman specifically wants to work for Donald Trump, and I say she’s crazy but I’ll be happy to see her.
We talk a little about the theater business, and I tell Gerry I’m about to take my kids to see Cats, one of his shows, for a second time. He asks if I’m getting my tickets through his office. I tell him that I don’t like to do that sort of thing. “Don’t be silly,” he says. “We have a woman here whose job it is to handle tickets for our friends. Here’s her number. Don’t hesitate to call.”
It’s a nice gesture from a very nice guy.
1:15 P.M. Anthony Gliedman stops by to discuss the Wollman Rink project. Gliedman was housing commissioner under Ed Koch. At the time we fought a lot, and even though I ended up beating him in court, I always thought he was bright. I don’t hold it against people that they have opposed me.
I’m just looking to hire the best talent, wherever I can find it.
Tony has been helping to coordinate the rebuilding of the Wollman Skating Rink in Central Park, a project the city failed at so miserably for seven years. In June I offered to do the job myself. Now we’re ahead of schedule, and Tony tells me that he’s set up a press conference for Thursday to celebrate the last important step in construction: pouring the concrete.
It doesn’t sound like much of a news event to me, and I ask him if anyone is likely to show up. He says at least a dozen news organizations have RSVPd yes. So much for my news judgment.
Product details
- Publisher : Random House; First Edition (November 12, 1987)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 246 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0394555287
- ISBN-13 : 978-0394555287
- Item Weight : 1.22 pounds
- Dimensions : 6.37 x 1.1 x 9.39 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #37,349 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #103 in Biographies of Business & Industrial Professionals
- #585 in Success Self-Help
- #841 in Memoirs (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the authors
Tony Schwartz is the President and CEO of The Energy Project, which helps individuals and organizations perform at their best. Tony's last book, The Power of Full Engagement, co-authored with Jim Loehr, was a Wall Street Journal and New York Times bestseller and has been translated into 28 languages. Tony's article "Manage Energy, Not Time: The Science of Stamina," co-authored with Catherine McCarthy, was published in the October, 2007 Harvard Business Review. Tony co-authored the #1 worldwide bestseller The Art of the Deal with Donald Trump and also wrote What Really Matters: Searching for Wisdom in America.
Donald J. Trump is the very definition of the American success story, continually setting the standards of excellence while expanding his interests in real estate, sports, and entertainment. He is a graduate of the Wharton School of Finance. An accomplished author, Mr. Trump has authored over fifteen bestsellers and his first book, The Art of the Deal, is considered a business classic and one of the most successful business books of all time. Mr. Trump has over eight million followers on social media and is a frequent guest across a variety of media platforms. Photo by by Michael Vadon [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.
Customer reviews
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Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonCustomers say
Customers find the book interesting, entertaining, and enlightening. They describe the writing quality as well-written, concise, and easy to read. Readers praise the man as clever, visionary, and remarkable. They appreciate the character development, saying he has strong convictions and fortitude. However, some find the first part of the book boring and not a great literary achievement. Opinions are mixed on the content, with some finding it insightful and motivational, while others say it's egotistical.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
Customers find the book interesting, informative, and entertaining. They say it's a great business book and well-written in easy chunks to read.
"This book is a great read. I really enjoyed it. A straight forward and business like review of a successful life of our once and future president!" Read more
"...Oh well, still very entertaining." Read more
"...Worth the read if your a fan of Trump." Read more
"very good product" Read more
Customers find the book enlightening, full of good information, and relevant. They say it's inspiring and shares his knowledge and experience. Readers also mention the lessons on business and negotiation are amazing. Additionally, they appreciate the practical and real advice.
"...He has tons of courage, love for the common man and for ideas and ways to make things better for all people...more than is at all obvious w/o a way..." Read more
"It's an old book to see how the businessman Trump was. Also some chapters showed how he was involved on a low level with politics...." Read more
"...I found this book inspiring." Read more
"...Keep in mind, the book is quite dated, but I did find it still very much relevant...." Read more
Customers find the writing quality of the book well-written, concise, and wise. They say it's an easy read, told in Trump's conversational style.
"This book is a great read. I really enjoyed it. A straight forward and business like review of a successful life of our once and future president!" Read more
"...Trump’s storytelling is engaging, and he shares numerous anecdotes from his personal experiences, allowing readers to gain a unique perspective on..." Read more
"...Fortunately, the writing is clean, easy to follow, and smooth as the ice rink that Trump aided NYC in constructing, on time and on budget...." Read more
"...style is that of a straight talker laying out the facts however it offers a prose which makes the reader feel as though they are personally having a..." Read more
Customers find the book enlightening. They say President Trump is very clever, shrewd, and visionary. Additionally, readers mention he's remarkable, intelligent, creative, and talented.
"...He has tons of courage, love for the common man and for ideas and ways to make things better for all people...more than is at all obvious w/o a way..." Read more
"Never truly appreciated this man until I read this book. Amazing and brilliant business man and builder in America. Interesting read...." Read more
"...He is a devoted family man. a compassionate and kind human soul...." Read more
"...world prosper simply because he is spiritually unselfish, his kindness is legendary...." Read more
Customers find the character development of the book strong. They mention that Trump is a man with strong convictions, fortitude, and determination to see through. Readers also appreciate his integrity, honesty, dedication, loyalty, hard work, and fairness.
"...Glory of a United States of Excellence. This book is insightful into the character and personal motivations of Mr. Trump. He is a devoted family man...." Read more
"Quality binding and an interesting read. Gave some great insight on the great man. Enjoyable read." Read more
"...unusual persistence, amazing business acumen, audacity and discipline are good examples even for someone who's out of the real estate circle like me...." Read more
"...about how he got started in the real estate biz — and his tremendous self confidence, skill, and yes...luck — at finding himself in the right place..." Read more
Customers find the book interesting, nice, and vivid. They say it gives a good picture of Trump as a businessman. Readers also mention the pictures in the middle are nice.
"...He succeeded the old fashioned way: Persistence, brilliance, and hard work. This book will ware you out because Trump is always on the move...." Read more
"...From the outset, it becomes apparent that Trump’s style is brash and bold, which might not be everyone’s cup of tea...." Read more
"The Art of the Deal is an insightful look into what makes Donald Trump tick...." Read more
"...Language is vivid, and very New York-style. You can feel the authenticity that Trump has shown in his presidential run. It's under $6...." Read more
Customers have mixed opinions about the egotistical content of the book. Some mention it gives insight into his great character and helps them understand what drives him. Others say there is a lot of bragging and lack of humility.
"...I found it a bit too descriptive and retrospective...." Read more
"Fluid read. Wasn't what I expected. No bravado or showmanship. This book gave insight into the kind of man Donald Trump is...." Read more
"...I gave this review three stars because the book is full of minor factual errors concerning dates and times...." Read more
"...My one warning to you, the reader is that often these stories are a bit exaggerated...." Read more
Customers find the book boring, not great, and not a literary achievement. They say it has nuggets here and there, but not enough to keep them entertained. Readers also mention the book is a total waste of money and time.
"...There was no happy little trees and no painting deals. Oh well, still very entertaining." Read more
"Good book for reading on the beach but some of the parts get boring...." Read more
"Not the most insightful or honest book, but what would you expect? I has never been interested in reading this, but I was challenged to do so...." Read more
"...Trouble is, it's a bit boring to read. Still, I really liked it. The insights are worth the effort." Read more
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Top reviews from the United States
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I have never seen my kid so inspired into finding out more about US and World politics and economics. Each time I speak to him about US or World matters he replies with an intelligent opinion of his own.
My son has not been indoctrinated to like a specific political party as his dad and I are both immigrants, but he loves his country and finds in Trump inspiration and hope, and that makes me truly happy.