All Trump Advices From The Apprentice For Success

I've always felt location is important, but the people behind the deal are much more important than a location. I'd much rather have a really smart, talented guy doing a deal in a not-so-good location than an idiot doing a deal in a great location because you'll make money every time. Making deals can be tough. I learned at a young age that you have to deal with the boss; it's very simple: deal with the boss wherever possible.

Negotiation is a very, very delicate part. Sometimes you have to be tough; sometimes you have to be as sweet as pie. You never know; it depends on who you're dealing with. I've always said that negotiation is not really learned; it's almost innate. It's in the genes. A negotiator is born. Once you make a deal with someone, it's really important to carry it through. You start developing the wrong reputation; it makes it impossible to make future deals. Once you shake hands, that should be it.

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You've always got to stand up for yourself. You just have to fight for yourself because basically nobody else is going to fight for you. Negotiation is a very, very delicate part. The big thing in negotiation is to try and figure out your opponent; otherwise, you're going to look like an idiot and lose big. Many times you hear the expression that God is in the details. When people come in to buy something, especially very rich people, they see details. If something's wrong, they see it, and it reflects in the price.

Let me see what that looks like. That's why I'm up early in the morning to check every detail of my construction sites. What is that? It's a little bit like watching somebody sell their used car and not wash it. You can spend ten dollars washing the car and get another 200 for the car. I've seen guys selling cars that are dirty, and I say, "That guy is a loser." It's going to be a great store when they're finished. Thank you!

Never beg when you're trying to sell something. If it doesn't work out, take your lumps and relax, but you'll never sell through the begging route.

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You've got to believe in what you're selling. If you don't believe it, if you don't really believe it yourself, it'll never work. It'll never sell, and you're going to be miserable. We think we're going to have a very, very substantial portion of this building leased before we start construction. Thinking outside of the box is something that is very much of a cliché, but if you really want to be successful, that's how you're going to have to do it. People love the beauty of the building; I love the location of the building, and I think they like Trump.

It's always been easier for me to think big. It was always easier for me to attract the money and the capital than it would be if I did a small job someplace that nobody cared about and nobody wanted to finance. For instance, I'm building a new golf course in Bedminster, New Jersey. Frank, how are we doing? Good. The site covers over 500 acres, which is huge. When I'm done, it's going to be one of the best golf courses anywhere in the world.

Alright, good. Smooth stuff. This top cereal is great. Good. Smooth. Okay, now in this winter, we're going to realize I have my own hair! Hey, Trump, does he wear away? I have my own hair; at least I'll see it now in the wind.

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You cannot be successful without passion. If you don't love what you're doing, if you don't have passion for it, forget it! Do something else; you'll be much more successful, and you'll lead a lot happier life. The greatest thing that can happen to a businessman or a woman is to surround yourself with talented people who also happen to be loyal. You never know what makes a loyal person, and guess what? If they're not loyal to you one time, don't give them a second chance because they won't be loyal to you the next time.

Ideally, you want quick decision-makers. However, you can't make it so quick that the decision is going to be wrong. I'd rather have somebody take their time and come out with the right decision, but the best combination is good decision-making quickly.

Every apartment is at least this finished or more. The building is in fantastic shape. If I see that there's a lack of organization, it drives me crazy because ultimately, lack of organization is lack of leadership, and you cannot succeed with a lack of leadership.

We're substantially under budget, and we're ahead of schedule! It's good, good. Okay, I focus very, very hard on budget. When people don't adhere to a budget, it's only trouble. You're 2 million, right? Can you get it down to a million? A billion eight? A millionaire? People go over budget; they're in big trouble. We have it there. Okay, bye.

The word leadership is always hard to define because you see so many different people that are so different, and they're great leaders. Hello everybody! But the quality of a great leader that I've seen that's common to all is respect. There's nothing like real estate. It beats paper stock certificates, and I think it's a great market. People have to respect you or you cannot be a leader.

Bill, we just bought the rest of the Sun Time site, so we own 100% of it now. The marketplace is totally brilliant. If you price something a little bit high, all of a sudden they don't buy. If you price it a little bit low, the marketplace just comes and eats it alive. You have to find the right price, and if you don't, big trouble. You better do a good job, Bill, or your ass is grass. Okay, good luck, though. Bye.

When I build a building or a golf course or a club or whatever I do, you always have to go after a certain audience. No! Is the art of the deal to be able to pinpoint your market? And if you can't pinpoint the market, you won't be successful. Have a good time, everybody!

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The facade—get it painted, get it finished. I want to get rid of those air conditioning louvers, especially the ones in the Terracotta. If you think an idea is really good, then just don't stop! Go after it. Keep selling it because some of the greatest ideas were ideas that nobody wanted. So it's going to be painted to represent Donald Trump and the Trump Organization.

Somebody has to be driven, but maybe more important than anything, they have to love! If they don't love it, they'll never ever be successful. Once they love it, and once I can see they enjoy what they're doing and they've got the talent to do it, they can't stop.

My apprentice contractors are a whole separate breed. They're tough, they're smart; they didn't go to Harvard or Wharton mostly, but you know what? They're just as smart as anybody that went there. You have to know how to deal with contractors, and you have to be tough because they will pick your pockets, and you won't even know what happened. Positive attitude is all about self-confidence, and self-confidence is the whole ball game.

I like the name Trump Tower Chicago, like Trump National for the golf courses. If you don't have a positive attitude in business or in life, you'll never ever be successful. I always thought of a Trump Tower Chicago, but the building is going to be amazing!

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Random House—has real? You should never lose your cool unless it's an act. If you're acting that you're angry because you want to scare your employees or you want to do something to get them to work harder...

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Yeah, never lose your cool unless you have a reason for doing so, and I... this is the first time I've seen this one. I'm a leader that listens to my team and listens intently, but in the end, I form my own opinion. Work down—no, no! But how can they tell us what height the height starts off the ground? So why do we have to take the ground down?

The leader that wants to be popular, that wants to be loved, that leader ultimately is not going to make it. Okay, got you. And I come into the office. Okay.

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One o'clock on Friday—why don't you confirm it? What's his attitude? And he knows I'm not doing it unless I get what I want, right? Oftentimes you'll see an opponent, and you'll say to yourself, "This is going to be easy." That's the worst thing you can do. Never underestimate your opponent. Assume that your opponent is the toughest, smartest person in the world because that can really lead to victory.

What did he tell you? How did he talk to you? Okay, that means he's gonna do it. Be a hard-ass guy. Okay, solo, are you running with me? There's no better feeling than being a winner. Is New York City? Want the Olympic? To be a winner, you have to think like a winner. You have to be positive, and you can non-stop!

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The best people are the ones that don't stop until the sale is made. Can you do this deal for 250,000? You're 344,000, right? You can't do it for 250,000. What can you do it for? They never give up; they have no quit. 265, Scott, I'm gonna give you the deal; is that okay? Do a great job, Scott. You have a lot of business coming up. Okay, appreciate that. Congratulations!

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If you win, people are going to respect you. Nice shot, Annika! Ah, where am I? I don't think we should have picked that soil. You might be in the world. Vince Lombardi was a little guy; he used to smack around these giant football players, and they'd cry. The reason he got away with it is because he just won.

Let's swing. Greatest golfer in the world. I've rarely seen a leader that's been able to lead by consensus. A leader is somebody that oftentimes will go against everybody. That's what a leader is. I mean, why would you send this to them anyway? Why wouldn't you let him send it to you? Now you're not supposed to send him anything; he's bidding on a job. Generally speaking, a leader has to think independently.

I think it's better if you say you got a better price and cut them down to 15-5 and then I'm going to forget about what happened. Okay?

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You gotta knock this building down fast, right? Fast! Okay, quickly; how long? February? People settle for mediocrity for one reason—they're lazy. I've seen it so often; people go into something, they don't want to go that extra step. They know it's not going to be great. It might be good; it might be okay. It's not going to be great. They settle for mediocrity; they're lazy.

Thank you!

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Great job, man. He's done that before, huh? Oh yeah, he wanted me to do that, right? I've always felt my best deals were made with my instinct—not anything else—with my instinct. Well, I think this will be one of the great buildings of Chicago, if not the best.

And what do you say to the skeptic? My skeptics have always faded away because I produce. I've made Chicago very proud. Well, thank you. How long would wire that holds up a big heavy scaffold last from a practical standpoint or in a big building? Could it last long, or do you think not?

I'll always want to hear what people have to say. It doesn't mean you have to do what they're saying, but always listen. If you do all the talking, you're not going to learn a lot. New York state has its own code which is regulated every 36 months. That's very interesting. Alright, you have a deal – congratulations!

Balf is an amazing game. I've seen people become tremendous friends at a golf course, whereas when they go out for lunch or dinner, they can't stand each other. You just keep making par after par.

Well, that's nice of you to say, but I think I'm probably more proud of the course than I am of my game. But I'm happy with my game! But Donald, you've been carrying me the whole round. That was a good one.

I always like to think big. There's an expression: go big or go home. I like it a lot. You go for the fences; you go all the way or, just, you know what, go home. I mean, if you can...

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In life, you can have a great idea, but if you can't get those ideas across, it's never ever going to work. You can't miss in this location. You know that! I don't know how many square feet do we need to see the space? Really pretty big? It's pretty good. You know we're going to put a whole canopy over the top of the space; it's going to be beautiful.

I know so many people that have great ideas, but they can't sell the ideas. Guess what? They're not successful. I want to move in! Okay, give me a proposal. Alright, okay. Nice to see you, pal! Let me see you again! Nice seeing you; good. Oftentimes, you'll have an idea and you'll fall in love with it, and then it turns out to be not such a good idea, and you can't get rid of it.

Can you give us a good deal? How about we make a deal now at on a gross basis, twenty dollars a foot?

Yeah!

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Thank you! When the idea turns out bad, cut it out of your mind, get rid of it, go on to the next thing, and let it be better. Okay? If you can't make a deal, finish it up with IBM. Right? For me, failure is never an option. Look, you guys didn't do a job, and you weren't there, and you know you weren't there, and the deal would have never gotten done without the other guys.

If you have to go through the wall, you go through it. If you can't go through it, you go under it, around it, over it—there is no such thing as failure. You know what? Then maybe you're not going to get your feet because as far as I'm concerned, you didn't do anything. This gear was mishandled from day one.

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I've seen people go 48 hours and even more—days and days without any sleep—in order to get a deal done. Sometimes you have to do that. You have to love what you do. Number two, you can never give up; you can never quit. If you don't have the physical or mental stamina to do it, guess what? You better be doing something else. You can never, ever quit!

Getting along with people is very important to success. So give me a proposal. We'll study. You know he's my friend, right? If you're not going to get along with people, you may be successful, but it's going to be a lot harder. Right? That's what it's all about, is that right?

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In business, it's important to adapt. Let's get to the price. So you're 344; can you do it for 250? Uh, I cannot, but you know we have a big building going up in Chicago—and if you don't adapt, you're never going to be good in business. You're never going to be successful.

Okay? Uh, 265 Scott, I'm going to give you the deal. You give me that 30-year service agreement. Okay, alright, you have a deal! Show flexibility; be able to make a change!

Leadership is very important in business. You have to inspire your staff; you have to really make them respect you. Go ahead—do it! Let's do it! Come on, you promised me, you guaranteed me victory! Did you guarantee me victory?

Yeah! You never quit; you never quit! Bring Jennifer in. People like working for the Trump Organization because I make it fun! That's Miss Universe right there! Look, Jay is one of the top lawyers in New York. Good! Thank you! Nice to meet you!

I make life interesting; it's always different; it's always exciting. Where else do you get a good time? Trump is Trump! What can I tell you? A good leader has to be able to recognize the strengths and weaknesses of employees.

You really have to watch the people that you're doing business with because there have been some absolutely horrific stories. The leader has to be able to see who is really strong where; and if they don't do it, it's not going to work out very well for that leader or for that company. So get the best people and watch them.

It's a scorecard. How well did I do? How much did I make? How much did the company make? Well, I'm glad you called! Well, your name has been great in Las Vegas—that's even good for your building! It gives it a status, prestige to the ground, and it's done well. You can do a lot of things, but in business, it's all about money.

Yeah, a good deal! I'd say it's like a great deal. Okay, yes it is. So long! A successful team has to challenge each other, push your teammates to be better performers. Just had a third one, let me see it. Let me see, Jack, why do you like this better than what you had?

Let me just see what you had. Just keep pushing and pushing them. You don't want to drive them over the edge, but push them as far as you can. That's you and I come into the office. Alright, so good.

So where are we? When I have a meeting, I don't waste time; it's quick, short, to the point, and we don't play games. We are going to have to get you down to 120 or I don't think this thing's gonna work. That's not in the cards for us; if it's got to be a 120 million dollar job, then it's not something we can do. There's only so many hours in the day; the quicker you are, the more you can get done.

I want you to sharpen your pencil if you can, okay? But that price won't get it!

Okay, thank you! Bye-bye! Recently, I had a man, and he came in for his final interview, but in my mind, he was hired. So this guy started telling me what a creep his boss is—a disloyal person can totally destroy a corporation. I didn't like that an employee was talking badly about the boss, and I decided not to hire him.

If you find a disloyal person, get rid of him or her immediately. They're no good; they'll never be good. There's nothing worse than disloyalty. I don't... Robin or Runner would be talking badly about me, but who the hell knows?

The side between practicality and creativity—the vodka category—there really isn't a traditional strategy. The imagery is predetermined with the Trump brand. I like that! That's a very smart ad! You have to be able to strike a balance; if you don't strike a balance, it's not going to work. Nice presentation; good job!

There are times when the only choice is confrontation. You understand me? And I'm going to sue you if I have to. Do you understand me? Think of yourself as a gladiator! Think of yourself as somebody that goes into the ring. Yes, I hung up; you didn't get disconnected. I hung up.

Confrontation is never really popular, but you know what? Sometimes it's needed! Do it, and do it with gusto! Let me tell you something; I don't know what he bought; I don't know what he did. All I know is I'm finished.

Okay, family is very important in business. Over the years, I've seen many very wealthy people; they're successful, they've got a lot going, they're not necessarily happy.

Uh, well order, what do you want to do? Chicken parmesan? Ah, I'd meet us, okay. Angel, I'll take care of it. The people that are the happiest and the most content are the ones with good family.

Okay, I'll get you some spaghetti, baby! You're so lucky to be married to me. Goodbye, honey! Bye, baby! People that are successful always know when it's time to pull somebody to change the squad. You don't want them to fail because probably it's your team that's going down with them.

So pull that person before they fail!

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Foreign people, sometimes you'll see a person that dressed beautifully. They look great; they're sharp; they speak well; everything's perfect—but they're losers.

Hello, everybody's group, huh? Beautiful! Hey, how you doing? Then you'll see somebody that doesn't look as good, they don't have the right clothing, they don't have the right face, they don't have anything right, but they turn out to be winners.

Time shows that they turned out to be winners. How's he doing? How's his answer? Good! He looks plenty smart to me. You never can judge a book by its cover.

I've seen over the years many people; they're highly inflexible—they have a straight line—but a lot of times that line has to change. And if you don't have a plan B, it's just not going to work. I really think this is something you want to show them.

Yeah, and this is Plan B! We might have a decision to make; you need flexibility or you never, ever going to be successful. Advertising—you want to keep your message to the point and simple. When you make it too detailed, too complex, it goes over the head of a large segment of the people you're really wanting to hear the message.

A really great leader, no matter how tough, no matter how smart, will always have an ability to listen to smart people that work for them.

Hello, Kendra! As the rule said, this is done. There are so many great ideas that can come out of your subordinates, and if you're not listening, you're not going to get those ideas.

Also, I think it would be good to aggressively attack an international market, so hire smart people and then listen to them. I think that'll work out great.

Our employees—it's over! How's it coming? Alright, are they going to take the broken one out or just leave it? That's what we're going to do. So that's a 25-year-old piece of metal!

You need the respect of your employees! Isn't this a brand new escalator? Huh? I bought a brand new escalator, fellas! I didn't buy one with old parts! If you're not going to lead, and if you're not going to have their respect, it's over.

Give it up; go out and get a job! If you're not decisive, the people that are supposed to be following you are going to say, "He doesn't know how to lead." I think that was a good one right there!

At the same time, you don't want to be so quick that you make a mistake. I think these are nicer, so be decisive, but make sure you're not making a mistake. You tell John it's done; you put her in the agency!

Foreign! Used to look at buildings and talk to people going into those buildings, and then he'd go and design a building so that it sort of met the needs of these people. Learn your customer. Know your customer; it's a good road to success!

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Many people have priorities. In some cases, it's family. In some cases, it's business. So Ivanka, are you enjoying it? A little different than college, right? A little different? A little more real-world experience, I'd say! Have priorities. If you love your family, love them. If you love your business, love it.

But there is room for other things, so you can have a great family and also do a great job at business! Try getting them all in there! Well, I hear you're doing great, honey, so that's good! You better get good!

Okay, okay, bye!

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Thanks! I view everybody as wanting my job, so everybody is ultimately competition. So when you go through where people...

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...I am hard and win. I wouldn't say it's a great way to live a life, but you have the advantage of having the top spot. Don't let anybody take that top spot from you! Stay focused!

I've seen many people that could talk a good game, but they couldn't deliver; they're losers! If you don't deliver the goods, the talking doesn't mean anything. And you think there may be some sabotage from within? Find the people that are doing this to you and get rid of them! Ruthlessly! Viciously! I don't care how you have to get rid of them, but get rid of them fast!

You can have friendship in business, but you can't let the friendships hurt your goals. You can't let the friendships hurt your business. I owed billions and billions of dollars, and I had so many friends that were so happy it all happened. They're my friends, but they were happy!

It's really wonderful to have good friends in business, but usually, it doesn't work out. And I fought like hell, and I just beat the crap out of her without my success!

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Foreign!

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