Never Enough: Donald Trump and the Pursuit of Success by Michael D'Antonio

Author:Michael D'Antonio
Language: eng
Format: mobi
ISBN: 9781466840423
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: 2015-09-22T06:00:00+00:00

10

TRUMP THE SPECTACLE

I am the creator of my own comic book, and I love living in it.

—DONALD TRUMP

Donald Trump never went bankrupt. He would frequently and energetically assert this in the years after he sought the shelter of the court for his Taj Mahal casino. The filing was made by a Trump corporation, not Trump the man, and he would describe this action as a sensible business move, devoid of shame, that gave him powerful leverage in his negotiations with creditors. “You have to be strong enough not to pay,” Trump would eventually explain, adding that the people he owed could rage with frustration but would eventually have to accept that his companies were not going to meet their obligations.1

At the time, lots of prominent businesspeople were using the courts to get out of corporate debt. In the year Trump’s Taj Mahal went bankrupt, so did United Press International, Bloomingdale’s, and Piper Aircraft. But while many well-known firms went under in the recession of 1990–91, none were associated with an owner who even approached Donald Trump’s level of fame and notoriety. “The show is Trump,” he said in a moment of candor that revealed his life to be a moneymaking construct. Having made his personality synonymous with his business, Trump’s troubles, including his marital problems, invariably affected his brand. This problem was widely discussed in the business press by experts in marketing and advertising. Renee Frengut, of the firm Market Insights, noted that people who became disillusioned with a celebrity “are not very forgiving.” Noted advertising expert Jerry Della Femina said that he would like to hire Ivana Trump, and not Donald, to promote his clients.

Remarkably, Trump continued to enjoy a life of luxury, retaining his many residences, including his home atop Trump Tower and his mansion in Palm Beach. His budget for personal expenses, approved by his creditors, was $450,000—per month. At home he was attended by servants. On the road he traveled with bodyguards. Any reasonable person would conclude that this material ease proved Trump was a success or, as he would say it, a “winner.” But in his frenzied sprint through life, he had continually sought to raise the bar in his own game, suggesting to the world that a successful man’s trophies must be ever more glittering and impressive, lest he be judged a failure. First he welcomed a writer from The Times to describe his luxury apartment in Olympic Tower. Then he brought Robin Leach to his mansion in the country, so it could be seen by the millions who tuned in to Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. His private airplane had to be a converted commercial jet. His Palm Beach home had to be Mar-a-Lago. His yacht had to be almost three hundred feet long. The woman at his side had to be beautiful in a way that everyone would admire.

Arriving at a time when wealth was being redefined—the real rich claimed not millions, but billions, in assets—Trump was not alone in his ambitions.

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