SEPTEMBER 23, 2004
(12 years, 1 month, and 16 days until the election)
Howard: Donald Trump is here. Old friend of the show. Big star. Big TV star.
Donald: How are you?
Howard: I’m well, thank you.
Donald: Very good.
Howard: Mr. Trump, I was very proud of you. I saw you on a lot of shows talking about the fact that the war in Iraq is going horribly wrong. A lot of people in your position, a wealthy guy, could do very well with the Bush administration. You’re speaking out ’cause you care. A lot of people are dying over there, young people, and perhaps for nothing.
Donald: Well, it’s a horror. The war is a total disaster. It seems to me to be almost worse than Vietnam. I really like the Bush policies on taxation. I really believe in them. It’s good. It puts people to work. But the war is a total catastrophe. And if anything is going to bring him down, that’s it. And perhaps you and the FCC.
Robin: This is a war George Bush wouldn’t have fought in himself.
Howard: That’s the other thing.
Donald: Well, one of the greatest spin jobs I’ve ever seen—and I’ve seen a lot of spin—was what they did with Kerry. They made Kerry, whether he was a great war hero or modest hero, or at least went and got shot at—
Howard: He was a brave guy.
Donald: They made him into a guy who was a total war failure, and Bush is this great war hero. It’s sort of amazing. The swift boat.
Howard: Yeah.
Donald: I thought it was one of the greatest jobs I’ve ever seen. He went into this whole thing as a war hero and came out damaged goods. It’s really amazing. And Bush, who obviously wasn’t a war hero, looking very good.
Howard: He’s looking like a war hero.
Donald: It’s amazing.
Howard: Bush, Ashcroft, Cheney. Seven deferments for Cheney. Five for Ashcroft. Bush clearly got privilege from his father. Fine. If I had a father who could get me some privilege, I’d admit it. I’d say, “Hey, I was lucky. I got out of this horrible war.” The Vietnam War. He hasn’t learned from history, though. He supports the Vietnam War. He says in theory it was a good war.
Donald: Well, that’s not so good. You have to have a pretty hard line to still support that war.
Howard: Would you fire Bush?
Donald: Well, I love his tax policy and hate his war. So I guess we’ll have to see what happens.
Howard: Stem cell research?
Donald: Totally in favor of it. I know people that are dying. With proper stem cell research, they could live. It just doesn’t make sense, what they’re doing.
Howard: It’s saying, “To hell with science. Jesus first, science later.” And it’s scary.
Donald: It’s a problem. It’s a problem.
Howard: Everyone said under Clinton, a guy like you, a wealthy man, would do badly. Did you do poorly under Clinton?
Donald: It’s a funny thing: the Republicans are known for business, and yet the economy always seems to tank under the Republicans.
Howard: Right.
Donald: So Clinton, who’s a member of one of my golf clubs, and who happens to be a really good guy—but you don’t think of him as a business guy. The economy was never stronger.
Howard: He was a strong president.
Donald: Now, the thing I like about this economy is low interest rates. But if interest rates go up, the entire real estate market collapses, the world collapses, and, you know, we go to hell.
Howard: Isn’t it true that after the election, interest rates will go up?
Donald: I think probably so. As you know, real estate in New York is going through the roof. I refuse to tell you how long I’ve been doing this, ’cause if I said the years, my girlfriend would leave me. But I’ve been doing this a long time. And it’s the single best market I’ve ever seen. And that, to a large extent, is the city is perceived to be doing well. I think Bloomberg is doing a very good job—
Howard: He’s a great mayor.
Donald: I think he’s doing a great job. I was with him last night.
Howard: What were you guys doing last night?
Donald: We went to Barbara Walters’s semiretirement party.
Howard: Hot chicks there? Or is that kind of not the place for that?
Donald: No, and it didn’t matter, ’cause I was with Melania. She’s my hot chick.
Howard: This fiancée of yours, Melania, she must be terrific in bed. ’Cause for her to hold on to you all these years, she’s gotta be doing something special. What’s her secret?
Donald: Well, she is terrific in bed. She wouldn’t want me saying that, but she is terrific.
Howard: Amount of positions she knows? Is it the oral?
Donald: Well, you know, she’s overall terrific.
Robin: When are you getting married?
Donald: Sometime early next year, probably.
Howard: Prenup?
Donald: We’ll have a prenup. You have to have a prenup. I have friends that have been destroyed. Men that are killers, tough to deal with, and yet a wife, five foot two, one hundred pounds, destroys them.
Howard: Me too. I know guys who I’ve known for years, and they get married and are afraid to ask their wife for a prenup. You’re a good judge of human character. Explain to me why a man is afraid to ask for a prenup. How do you do it?
Donald: Well, it’s a very tough thing. Actually, doing business deals is easy. It’s natural. Doing a prenup is a different deal.
Howard: ’Cause it’s emotional.
Donald: You go up to someone, tell them you love them. In my case, you know, “Melania, I love you very much. You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”
Howard: Gorgeous.
Donald: “We’re going to be together forever. But just in case, would you please immediately sign this?” Look, it’s an unattractive instrument.
Howard: If Melania says to you, “What do you propose?” You’ll say, “Talk to my accountant for a proposal.” You’re not going to get into the nitty-gritty with her, are you?
Donald: No, I’m not going to get into the nitty-gritty with her. You know, my father many, many years ago—he was ninety-three when he passed away. Many years ago. He had a wonderful sixty-three-year marriage to a woman, my mother.
Howard: Right.
Donald: Okay. I heard he asked her for a prenup. Can you believe this?
Howard: Ahead of his time.
Donald: This was, like, seventy years ago! The guy was great. He was ahead of his time. He asked for a prenup, and she threw him out of the house. She had good intentions.
Howard: So you haven’t begun the negotiations with Melania yet?
Donald: I haven’t actually begun that negotiation yet.
Howard: But she’s picked out a lawyer?
Donald: She hasn’t even picked out a lawyer yet.
Howard: I admire this. Quite frankly, the marriage laws are a bit archaic. A guy like you, you’ve built up wealth, you’ve worked hard. I see you hustle every day. No reason if you fall in and out of love you should have to give up all your money.
Donald: I have a friend who’s a total, brutal killer. He just kills everyone. And he’s had a couple of horrible marriages. Now he has a new girlfriend, and he tells me, “Donald, this is the one.” His last wife ripped him off for about $50 million. She was with him for two years, made him dinner every now and then. She didn’t make dinner that often, ’cause she was out screwing around. So now he calls me and tells me, “I’ve met the one.”
Howard: How stupid.
Donald: I say, “Okay, that’s great. Where does she come from?” She’s a Las Vegas showgirl.
Howard: Oh boy.
Donald: Bad sign. So I said, “You’re going to get a prenup, right?” He says, “Don, honestly, I don’t need it.” Now, here’s a guy who’s a genius businessman, but a schmuck.
Howard: So what happened?
Donald: He married her two years ago. About a week and a half ago, I asked, “How is she doing?” He says, “That son of a bitch, I’ll get her. It’s over.” And I said, “Please tell me you had a prenup.” He says, “I don’t. I have to go through it again.”
Howard: Oh my God.
Donald: Something happens to men. Hey, look, I love Jack Welch. Great businessman. He had a very unusual prenup. He was married for ten years. The prenup expires in ten years, and he leaves her in the eleventh year. And she sues him for $500 million. You would have thought he’d leave after nine and a half, right?
Howard: Right. Talk to me now about what’s going on with The Apprentice. You were the original, but you have two other guys who are attempting to steal your thunder. One of them came in here the other day. Mark Cuban. Billionaire. He’s got a show on now that’s very similar to The Apprentice.
Donald: Right. With no ratings.
Donald: Doing very badly.
Howard: Then you’ve got this other guy coming out, Richard Branson.
Donald: Who’s actually a good guy. I think that show has a shot. You see the ratings this week?
Howard: Yeah.
Donald: What were they?
Howard: Number one.
Donald: We were the number-one-rated show. In fact, the New York Times did a front-page story this Sunday, saying we were the number-one show since May.
Howard: With that kind of clout, you pressured NBC into paying you more money, did you not?
Donald: I did.
Howard: So now, what, you’re getting $1 million an episode?
Donald: Much more than that.
Howard: More than a million an episode! Is that true?
Donald: Yes. Jeff Zucker is so smart, so tough, that it’s hard to get that kind of money.
Howard: It’s not a lot of money considering what they’ll get in advertising.
Donald: They’ll make a billion dollars off of The Apprentice.
Howard: Now, Mark Cuban is the guy from this other show. I don’t even know—
Robin: The Benefactor.
Howard: The Benefactor. Okay, did you see Page Six today? He came out and blasted you. He says you need the money.
Donald: Okay, let me tell you about Mark Cuban. I think he needs the money ’cause this guy—just so you understand, according to Forbes I’m a much richer man than Mark Cuban.
Howard: He claims that you lie about your wealth. He says you claim you’re worth $1.3 billion, you’re not even worth that.
Donald: No, no, I claim I’m worth $6 billion. Forbes claims I’m worth $2.5 billion. But let me tell you about Mark Cuban. Mark Cuban is trying to get publicity ’cause his show is failing so badly.
Howard: So he’s using you.
Donald: Everybody uses me. Women use me, you use me—
Howard: I use you?
Donald: Well, you don’t. But I’m a ratings machine. I don’t know why he’s doing it.
Howard: But why disparage you? He claims that—
Donald: Howard, Howard, excuse me. Before you say it—
Howard: Go ahead.
Donald: He said that Donald Trump isn’t as good a businessman as you think. He mentioned four deals. One of them is Trump Ice. The hottest water there is. It’s water.
Howard: I drink Trump Water.
Donald: It just launched. It’s a success. He says it’s a failure. The other is online Trump University. Last week I filed to maybe do an online university. I haven’t done it yet, but he says it’s a failure. The other thing was a failure was Trump World magazine. It launches tonight. We haven’t even gone out yet. And by the way, it’s going to be a success. So he mentions all this stuff. He doesn’t mention my real estate, which is through the roof, which is the biggest stuff.
Howard: But he said you don’t own those buildings, you just stick your name on them. This is what he said to me. I was shocked.
Robin: Do you own all of the buildings?
Donald: No, I own large percentages of the buildings.
Howard: Bottom line, you are worth minimally $2.3 billion, maybe as high as $6 billion.
Donald: Well, Forbes says $2.5 billion, but I’ve always disputed Forbes.
Howard: All right. That’s all I needed to know.
Robin: We pointed this out the last time you were here: whatever you do, you say, “It’s the most fantastic. It’s the greatest thing.”
Donald: That’s not true. I don’t say that. When do I say that? Excuse me, I say it when it’s true. Hey, Robin, I have the hottest show on TV. She’s a very negative person, Robin.
Howard: She is very negative.
Robin: I heard they were going Chapter 11.
Donald: That’s minimizing debt. That’s called intelligent business.
Robin: Hold on. They say Trump has to file bankruptcy on his casinos in Atlantic City, and Trump said this is the greatest thing.
Robin: [laughs]
Donald: I only say it’s good if it’s good. That’s true. Let me say one thing. The casinos are only one small part, 1 percent of my net worth, ’cause they’re important to me ’cause I’ve been there so long.
Robin: Uh-huh.
Donald: I’ve made a lot of money with casinos over a fifteen-, sixteen-year period. I’ve made a lot of money. Now what I’m doing is making the casinos great. It’s less than 1 percent of my net worth. I’d bet in the years to come, it’ll be a big portion of my net worth.
Howard: All right, listen. Donald Trump. Continued success to you.
Donald: Thank you, Howard.