The Real Trump Deal. Martin E. Latz
a really big name, so he cultivated celebrity. But his lifestyle was surprisingly unglamorous. He’s quite disciplined in some ways. Doesn’t smoke, doesn’t drink, lives above the store. He was not a big New York socialite, never was. He basically enjoyed going upstairs and watching the tube. What he was interested in was celebrity and his businesses—construction, real estate, gambling, wrestling, boxing.138
Priority-wise, the celebrity/reputational interest appeared to matter even more than his interest in substantive success. Jeffrey Breslow invented a Monopoly-like board game called Trump: The Game in 1988. Here was his pitch to Trump:
Breslow was prepared to get down on the floor and pit his strategic wiles against the guy whose picture would be on the box…. But Trump had no interest in playing or even hearing details of the game. He took a quick glance at the mock-up of the box’s cover and said, “I like it—what’s next?”
What came next was a lightning-fast negotiation, a promotional blitz, and the sale of about a million units.139
Reporters also recognized his interest in celebrity. Former New York magazine writer John Taylor covered Trump in New York and said of him:
He was literally addicted to publicity and recognition. He would get this, like, dopamine surge in his brain. I would walk with him into some building or room, and Trump would kind of hang back and watch the room, and wait until the room had filled, and he would have that moment of recognition, when you’d see waves of people turn and realize it was him…. He would live for those moments.140
Trump himself recognized this, as his morning routine for decades included a review of press clippings about him from the previous day.141
A quick note on this celebrity, ego-related interest. Many celebrities and famous individuals crave attention. This draws them to these careers. Other similarly famous individuals shun the attention and view the celebrity as a curse. They get personal satisfaction in other ways. Some love and hate it.
The point here is not to judge this interest as good or bad. Instead, it is to highlight an important Trump interest that drives much of his negotiation behavior.
Ascertain Reporters’ Personal and Professional Interests
So, knowing his interests, Trump’s next step relates to the reporters’ personal and professional interests. Trump learned these early in his career. As he wrote:
One thing I’ve learned about the press is that they’re always hungry for a good story, and the more sensational the better. It’s in the nature of the job, and I understand that. The point is that if you are a little different, or a little outrageous, or if you do things that are bold or controversial, the press is going to write about you. I’ve always done things a little differently, I don’t mind controversy, and my deals tend to be somewhat ambitious. Also, I achieved a lot when I was very young, and I chose to live in a certain style. The result is that the press has always wanted to write about me.
Most reporters, I find, have very little interest in exploring the substance of a detailed proposal for a development. They look instead for the sensational angle.142
Trump also knew that reporters worked on deadlines and had a huge interest in timeliness and responsiveness.
Trump also understood perhaps the most fundamental media interest of all in an increasingly for-profit media world—readership and revenue. Anything that sells papers, increases readership, or bumps up viewers satisfies this interest.
In Trump’s early New York media world, dominated by tabloids and gossip columnists, this interest prevailed.
Of course, many in the media would add truth, accuracy, and unbiased reporting as crucial interests, especially on the hard news and investigative reporting side. But Trump never seemed to recognize this as important to the media. After all, they appeared to cover everything he said and did regardless of its truth and accuracy.
As Barbara Res, Trump’s longtime employee, said:
Donald had a way of getting into print whatever he would say, even if it weren’t necessarily the whole and honest truth…. He managed to say what he would say, and people would write it and then it would be the truth. That was the thing with him that they call the big lie. You say something enough times, it becomes the truth. And he is the master of that.143
So, what does Trump do—knowing his and his counterparts’ personal and professional interests? Offers carrots that satisfy their common interests.
Explore Ways to Satisfy Common Interests (The Carrots)
Trump has offered reporters many carrots over the years. And he does it in an extremely timely fashion, understanding their interest in responsiveness. As noted in Trump Revealed, “While other developers might refuse interviews or issue carefully worded statements through publicists, Trump was almost never unavailable to talk for a few minutes or a few hours…. Trump [also] usually returned calls personally, within hours if not minutes.”144
What carrots did Trump give reporters (other than offering to get Barrett an apartment in a nicer part of New York)? “Sensational” and “bold” and “controversial” quotes and stories and access about his business and personal life. Everything “Trump” was newsworthy, and he knew and promoted this.
Even his divorces became tabloid fodder, which Trump managed. He himself said, “[a] divorce is never a pleasant thing, but from a business standpoint, it’s had a very positive effect.” 145 And business occupied the central part of his life.
Trump employed these same strategies in his business negotiations. First, he understood his personal and business needs and interests. Second, he ascertained his counterparts’ personal and business needs and interests. And finally, he found ways to satisfy their common interests and offered carrots.
Two business negotiations illustrate this: the Commodore Hotel Redevelopment and Trump Tower.
The Commodore Hotel Redevelopment
Trump needed a first project in Manhattan to demonstrate his development abilities, prove his financial acumen independent of his dad, and establish himself in a highly competitive real-estate environment (collectively, his interests). To do this, he picked the redevelopment of the run-down Commodore Hotel next to Grand Central Station.
What did he need to get this done?
– Control the Commodore site.
– Obtain a tax abatement from New York City so the redeveloped hotel could cover its mortgage and be profitable.
– Receive a loan of about $70 million from financial institutions for the redevelopment.
– Find a hotel operator to run it after redevelopment.
His counterparts? The Penn Central railways bankruptcy trustee (the landowner). New York City. Financial institutions. And Hyatt Hotels, which then had no New York City hotel.
Trump did four things in this negotiation that would tap into his counterparts’ personal and business interests. These became hallmarks of his negotiation approach.
1. Trump’s Carrots to Get the Site—Political Connections and Partner Relationships
Trump knew Penn Central needed a hard-driven, hungry, financially solid developer with access to capital and political clout at city hall to take on this risky redevelopment project.
So, he initially spent time with the Penn Central representative showing him various large Fred Trump-developed properties. This was meant to satisfy Penn Central’s fundamental interest in a proven developer with the experience and expertise to reliably get the job done.146
Trump even sent the Penn Central representative a television set as a Christmas present, appealing to the representative’s personal self-interest. The Penn Central rep returned it.147