These are some points from the article about Donald Trump that was printed in the newspaper Dagens Næringsliv [dn.no]. The article was on print 1. March 2008, page 39-47. Link web version of this article from Dn.no. Most of this is translated from the Norwegian text in the paper into English.

Tell people about your success:
“Business Rule #1: If you don’t tell people about your success, they probably won’t know about it”.

The Spotlight:
Donald: “I like what the spotlight represents.”
-And what is that?
Donald: “Success! It feels great and I would miss the attention if it went away.”

Trump was awarded the 2327 th. star on the “Hollywood walk of Fame” last year.

Celina Midelfart
Trump was written a lot about in the media in Norway at the end of the nineties when he was pictured with the Norwegian cosmetics heir Celina Midelfart. They met when Celina was studying at Stern School of Business in New York and Celina was renting an apartment in Trump Tower.

Donald: “How is Celina? She is a wonderful woman and a terrific business woman. We must come to Norway. She could probably help us find some good real estate. Norway is almost the only place where we are not present. ”

New York and Business
The Trump Organization is one of the biggest privately owned companies in the New York area. It has 22.450 employees and a revenue of 10.4 billion dollar.

Donald about the near bankruptcy,”I was blended by my own success and lost the perspective. Everything I owned was heavily leveraged. But even when everything looked dark I fought back and never went bankrupt”.

-But that market could collapse again?

Donald: “Today everything is different! I have a lot of cash and little debt. From a business perspective I see an enormous opportunities out there. But I wish the economy was a bit better.”

Politics and George Bush
Donald: “The last three years I have said that it would go bad. The leadership in this country, and then I am talking about President Bush, is pathetic and weak.”

- President Bush promissed tax cuts and the central bank has cut the interest rate. Do you think that it will be enough to stop a recession?

Donald: “There is definitely not a quick fix for USA. The problem with the central bank is that they don’t lead on. Bernake is only walking after the market. Bernake only cut the interest rate when he had no other choice. I think the economy none the less will recover in the next couple of years.”

The Trump Brand
Donald Trump has managed what no other real estate developers have managed. He has created a brand that makes investors around the world lining up to co-operate with Donald Trump, well knowing that they will get 20-30 % higher price on their real estate if the Trump logo is on the building.

He takes about 8% to 15% of the revenue in the projects he is involved in.

-How does this affect your debt situation?
Donald: “When you get older you are more nervous about debt. I have significantly less debt today. We don’t need to take the same risks today.”