Donald Trump's Business Challenges

No one is going to play violins or weep over Donald trump. He is strong headed , often arrogant, and conveys the perception that he can handle anything. Yet, he is a great marketer and his life is consumed with challanges that most could ever imagine. I began to appreciate this, recently when I reviewed some (of the dozens) of recent headlines about him at Google:

* Salmond 'unaware of Trump lifeline'The Press Association - The First Minister has said he had no idea Donald Trump's application for a £1 billion golf resort would be thrown a lifeline by the Scottish Government. ...See all stories on this topic. This is one of many articles on Trump's golf course struggles.

* Note to Israel in dealing with the Gaza: "Let those people go"OpEdNews - Newtown,PA,USABefore I get into the next case, I want you who read this piece to listen to the words of Donald Trump who has called Bush “The worst president in history”. ...See all stories on this topic. Bush chimes in on international affairs.

* New Orleans needs our helpNewsday - Long Island,NY,USADonald Trump says the residents of Nassau County should welcome his catering hall to Jones Beach and make special concessions for variances, permits, ...See all stories on this topic. Trump leads a charge to save New Orleans.

* Bonnie Donny, The Isle o' Lewis Is Pining for YeWall Street Journal - USARocks to Riches: Donald Trump's mother grew up in a house now grassy ruins. Her son's properties are dotted round the US and include an apartment in Trump ...See all stories on this topic. Trump is used as a point of reference to prove the fame of someone else.

* TRUMP SUES PHILIPPINE PROPERTY FIRM FOR USING HIS NAMEPR-Inside.com (Pressemitteilung) - Wien,AustriaBusiness tycoon DONALD TRUMP is suing a property company in the Philippines over the unauthorised use of his name in one of their housing projects. ...See all stories on this topic. When you feel sorry for how often Donald Trump is sued, remember, he can dish it out.

I think you get the idea. Sure, he has many people who manage these many battles for him. Furthermore, he is well compensated for all of these efforts. But I simply can't say that Trump's life is simple.

Above is a video by the people who spread the rumor about Trump's $10,000 tip (which proved to not be true. This is all part of Donald's interesting life.

Kevin Price is Host of the Houston Business Show (M-F at 11 AM on CNN 650) and Publisher of the Houston Business Review.

Donald Trump Changes His Mind

Donald Trump, who announced a few months ago that he was "quitting" the Apprentice program he has had on NBC, seems poised to change his mind. True, the show has only around 1/3 of its original viewing audience from 2004. Also, it appears true that NBC had actually canceled the program a few months ago and simply hadn't formally announced it. In other words, Trump "left" before he was fired.

This being the case, would anyone be surprised that Trump would "change his mind" with the rumored interest on the part of NBC to bring the show back and the millions he will make in both salary and free exposure for his brand? That is the world of "the Donald." He's not fired, he quit; NBC didn't change its mind, Trump did.

With the program likely to come back, I have a few suggestions:

* As the show worked to become more like a circus and less like an interview, it lost audience. Instead of becoming more interesting, it instead became more ridiculous. I think it needs to go back to its roots.

* Cultivate an interest in what the apprentices are working towards. They have several seasons behind them; they should spend more time showing the world of the past winners to give the audience a taste of what people are trying to obtain through the show.

* Make the expectations more in line for a person who is suppose to become the President of one of Trump's companies. I don't think most people could care about the ability of the aspiring apprentice in promoting a car wash, but would like to know how he or she would create a new brand.

Regardless of what you think of Trump, you have to be impressed to a certain extent of his ability to always figure out how to land on top and make his down turns look like part of a "larger strategy."

Is CBS News Using Rosie's Strategy for Ratings?

For the last several days I have felt like I have been watching Rosie O'Donnell, but she is largely under the radar screen. Instead, I have been watching the battle breaking out on national news between Dan Rather and CBS President Les Moonves over the "demise" of the network since "Rather left."

Rather says that the network -- and broadcast news in general -- have been "dumbing down and tarting up." Both comments seem to be pointed at Katie Couric (photo), although Rather denies it and says it is a statement about news in general. Les Moonves has gone immediately to war, calling Rather "sexist" and that he is suffering from sour grapes. Furthermore, Moonves argued that the network was devastated long before Rather left and before Katie got there, which is why the veteran needed to be replaced.

I'm now waiting for nasty comments about someone being "too fat," "too stupid," or having "bad hair." Oh, that's the Trump and O'Donnell debate, network news would never resort to that. Hmm, then again, I guess they already have. I deny, however, that the network is at all interested in "tarting itself up," in spite of my choice of a photo. Furthermore, would the major news network resort to Trump and O'Donnell tactics to increase ratings? Of course not.

Donald Trump Redefines "Intelligence"

Donald Trump was excited following the debate on ABC's "The View" between Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Rosie O'Donnell. In fact, Trump is convinced that Rosie is leaving early in humiliation because she was "beat up" by Hasselbeck.

On Fox News, Donald was looking punchy himself and it reminded me of a "post fight interview," in which a previous contender discussed how each round went. Trump filled the part perfectly, having had many rounds with Rosie himself. He tackled the subject like a middle school student "talking smack" about O'Donnell being everything from a "loser," to "fat," to "stupid," etc., etc., etc. My children are no longer allowed to watch Trump because he is a bad example.

When asked if he was impressed about Hasselbeck's performance, he was as or more harsh towards Elisabeth than Rosie, telling Fox News "Elisabeth is not a very smart person, she’s one of the dumber people in television. To see that she supports the war, and she’s solidly behind the war, give me a break.” At first, Trump said O'Donnell won because of her position on the war, but later he said she had to of lost or she wouldn't have quit like she did. This is quality television!

Donald Trump is now the protector and definer of intelligence. If you are against the war, you are stupid. I can't even begin to say how "stupid" that sounds. In my experience, intelligent people are not threatened by views that are different than theirs to the point of resulting in name calling. Intelligent people like passionate debate and counter it with sound argument, not insult.

It is hard to believe that a few years ago this guy was being mentioned as a possible Presidential candidate. Now the only people who would ever discuss such are the David Letterman's and Jay Leno's. But even comedy has to have a certain amount of plausibility, which is why we don't hear them joking about it any longer. That's good news, because a Trump presidency would be far more scary than humorous.

Life for "The View" After Rosie

Rosie O'Donnell is leaving "The View" and I could not be happier. Her views are so horrible, her hate for anything US so obvious, and her behavior is so irritating. Yet, in the end, she may have been a good thing for the talk show.

Before Rosie, the show had been limping along for quite some time. Executive Producer Babara Walters dumped Star Jones because she was losing her spark and Rosie had become the new queen of controversy.

O'Donnell attacked virtually everything and everyone she could think of. US troops were described as terrorists, Bush was responsible for September 11th, Donald Trump has bad hair, etc., etc., etc. She even attacked the lovely Elisabeth Hasselbeck (photo, do you think I would have one of Rosie?) for being "too sweet" and "too Christian."

I protest the show and simply won't watch it, but it appears that many others became interested in the program and it is clear O'Donnell helped the ratings. In fact, Babara Walters is fighting off claims that the most recent battle between Hasselbeck and O'Donnell was simply for ratings. That battle stemmed from the fact that Hasselbeck rightly implied that Rosie was calling US troops terrorists.

In the end, The View was popular with Rosie, not because of her talent, but in the tradition of people who use to go and watch trains crash for entertainment. High drama, high action, but not much substance. So who will replace O'Donnell? Maybe Donald Trump will be on for a while in the name of "equal time." After all, he needs something to do since The Apprentice appears to be history.

Life may not be "too Rosie" for the view if they don't find someone to keep the viewers coming. I just hope that replacement has them watching for better reasons than a disaster in the making.

Donald Trump May Need to Learn That There Is Such a Thing as "Too Much" Exposure

Donald Trump (photo, right) is seen everywhere. He can be found battling Rosie O'Donnell of The View over everything from hairstyles to dealing with beauty queens, or on his TV show The Apprentice humiliating aspiring candidates, or commenting on how terrible President Bush is as a leader at every opportunity. Trump sincerely believes that all publicity is good publicity.

However, "the Donald" may be taking his publicity seeking agenda too far with his participation with Vince McMahon (photo, left) of Wrestlemania in a fight over their respective hairstyles. Or, specifically, their actual hair. The ads imply that there will be a wrestling event between two "professionals," each representing McMahon and Trump. It is being billed as the "Battle of the Billionaires." If Trump's wrestler wins, McMahon loses his hair and if McMahon's wins, Trump loses his.

I don't care what anyone tells me, this type of publicity can't do anything for the ultra luxury brand known as "Trump." Furthermore, it is impossible to believe that, just four years ago, some actually discussed him as a possible third party candidate for President. Most thought he would be taken quite seriously. Now, the thought shocks most or makes them laugh. The Trump brand and reach is still quite amazing. He needs to do work hard to protect it, not compromise it.

Scary Letter From Donald Trump

Recently I have written several blog entries about Donald Trump, some of which take a humorous look at some of his recent activities (battle with Rosie, gift to subway hero, etc.). So I have to admit I was a little nervous when I looked at my mail recently and I found an envelope with "Donald J. Trump, New York City" on the return address and yours truly as the addressee.

Most people know that Donald Trump has a tendency to sue when he sees something he doesn't like, so when I saw that little envelope I was first excited (wow, a letter from Donald Trump) and then terrified (wow, a letter from Donald Trump). After all, there is a chance he didn't take my blog in the very friendly spirit it was written in. I looked at the outside and it appeared legitimate enough. Even the postmark had the look and feel of a real letter. I turned it over and on the back, printed in gold "230 Park Avenue, 10th Floor; New York, NY." It was very impressive.

I opened it up and -- to my pleasant surprise -- it was a VIP ticket to an event that his son, Donald Trump, Jr will be speaking at in the Houston area on how to be a self-made millionaire! Who would know better than the son of a billionaire! But seriously, it looks like an interesting event and it looks as though I will have an interview with him in the process. My understanding is that he is surprisingly level headed and actually has a natural head of business.
I'll keep people up to date as the event nears. If I get the expected interview, it will be archived at the Houston Business Review.

Donald Trump Finds Himself in the News for a Good Cause

Lately, almost all the news on Donald Trump as of late has been bad, so it was refreshing to see him in line giving praise and even money to Wesley Autry, the 50 year old man who jumped on a New York subway rail in order to rescue a young man who was suffering from a seizure. With only seconds to spare he saved the day and provided an example that is inspirational to all of us.

Donald Trump gave the 50 year old construction worker $10,000.00 as a reward for his heroics. In return, Trump received, what I'm sure, is a warm and fuzzy feeling for his act of kindness and newspapers all over the world reporting on his goodwill gesture. Countries included New Zealand, Canada, Ireland, and many more wrote articles about his action. I believe that people are fairly cynical, and the media more so than most, but I saw virtually no questioning of Trump's motives. We should all want to praise Autry for such a selfless, heroic, and inspirational act and am glad to see such behavior rewarded in light of the trash we see that appears to be profitable.

I went ahead and did a little research to see how many references I could find on Donald's generosity in Google's news section and using very specific search criteria, I found over 680 references and as I mentioned earlier, they were all over the world. You can't buy publicity like that! Unless you are Donald Trump, than you can do it for a mere $10,000.00.

Don't get me wrong, this isn't entirely critical. He made a nice gesture. I'm just amazed how he always seems to turn a profit, no matter what his actions.