Talk:Donald Trump

Lawsuits in response to Donald's routine

In response to Rosie's comedy rountine, Donald's comedy rountine in the news seemed to also invite others to joke about lawsuits. I heard rumors of several entities threatening to sue Trump, which include the National Association of Truck Drivers, Barbara Walters, and the Emmy Committe. Should this be mentioned in the article? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by I Go Moo (talk • contribs) 01:22, 24 December 2006 (UTC).

World Trade Center Rebuild

I saw Donald Trump on the news about a year ago, proposing that the Word Trade Center be rebuilt almost exactly as before, and that he was going to be involved in an effort to do so.

What's the status? Is he still involved? Does anyone have any URLs?

stub

Does anyone know how to make a stub? I was looking at the retail stub at the bottom of all the Mills Corporation wikipedia pages. Trump should have one. E.g., here is a page I created for a Mills corp property: 108 North State Street. I just copied the stub stuff at the bottom, but don't know how to make one from scratch.

Wharton

How long did he go to the Wharton School of Finance?

For a day probably, if his evaluation and decision making on the Apprentice is anything to go by. Wharton grads must cringe every time it is mentioned that the Donald went to that school

Portrait image

I have listed the portrait image for deletion on WP:IFD because of its terms of use. Dori | Talk 13:27, Jun 5, 2004 (UTC)

Does anyone have a good picture to upload? I think one is needed in this article. Rollo44 20:23, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

Ancestry

Somebody keeps putting up information that Trump's ancestors are from Baden-Baden Germany. This is from a German website "People from Baden Baden" (view this article's history, in particular http://en.wikipedia.org/w/wiki.phtml?title=Donald_Trump&oldid=3367622) that claims that Trump's grandfather (with the surname of Trumpf) came from Baden-Baden, and that Fred Trumpf changed the name to "Trump" to avoid anti-German sentiment. But page 66 of "Art of the Deal", written by Donald Trump, definitively says that his grandfather came from Sweden. Also, the Lehigh University information is also incorrect. (Wikipedia occasionally has people who will deliberately put in bogus information as a joke to see if people are gullible enough to swallow it).

I was the one who added the Lehigh connection, and it certainly wasn't a joke. I was relying on this profile from Selling Power magazine. If Trump describes his educational background in The Art of the Deal, I'd agree that it's a better source. (On some subjects I'd leave open the possibility that Trump was lying in his book, but he probably wouldn't lie about that.) Does the book discuss his academic career? JamesMLane 22:18, 5 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Art of the Deal does discuss his undergraduate career, on page 77 of the paperback edition. Lehigh University is never mentioned nor is it in the index. An excerpt (from pages 76-78):

After I graduated from the New York Military Academy in 1964 I flirted briefly with the idea of attending film school...But in the end I decided real estate was a much better business. I began by attending Fordham University...but after two years, I decided that as long as I had to be in college, I might as well test myself against the best. I applied to the Wharton School of Finance at the University of Pennsylvania and I got in...I was also very glad to get finished. I immediately moved back home and went to work full-time with my father.

Buy the book -- it's only a $6 paperback (about the cost of a movie), and a good read. You'll find that he wasn't exactly born with a silver spoon in his mouth, and that following in the "family business" wasn't easy, especially for his older brother who became an airline pilot. It's all in the book.— Preceding unsigned comment added by [[User:{{{1}}}|{{{1}}}]] ([[User talk:{{{1}}}#top|talk]] • [[Special:Contributions/{{{1}}}|contribs]])

-- Anonymous— Preceding unsigned comment added by [[User:{{{1}}}|{{{1}}}]] ([[User talk:{{{1}}}#top|talk]] • [[Special:Contributions/{{{1}}}|contribs]])

I know in the past there's been some uncertainty on the article about whether he's of Swedish or German descent, but I think it's the latter, based on a NYT obit I cited in the article Fred Trump:

Frederick Christ (pronounced Krist) Trump was born in New York City in 1905. From World War II until the 1980s, Mr. Trump would tell friends and acquaintances that he was of Swedish origin, although both his parents were born in Germany. John Walter, his nephew and the family historian, explained, "He had a lot of Jewish tenants and it wasn't a good thing to be German in those days."

Everyking 08:24, 18 Jan 2005 (UTC)

According to the Donald Trump article at German Wikipedia, the Trump family was from Kallstadt (pop. 1162), a town in Rheinland-Pfalz, and not Baden-Baden as often falsely reported. I think this article could use a "Personal life" section. If one was created, I would be happy to translate pertinent information from the German Wikipedia article, which covers far more of Trump's pre-fame background. Gilliamjf 06:58, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

Background

I'm nixing this:

His mother, who has family on Lewis in the Western Isles, probably named him "Donald", which in Gaelic means "proud" or "world ruler". AStanhope

I'm glad to see it go. I was never bold enough to remove it myself. Everyking 02:01, 19 Mar 2005 (UTC)

The Donald would have encouraged decisive action on our part. AStanhope

Is this our new standard for editing? "What would Donald do?" :) JamesMLane 03:42, 19 Mar 2005 (UTC)

I think that it's a little much to call him a "staunch opponent" of the Iraq War. He expressed his opinion against it - it's not like he ran around speaking to rallies, funded anti-Bush candidates, etc.

Muddled sentence

I think the last sentence of the intro is a mess. Could someone who understands it rewrite it please? Thank you. Osomec 21:59, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)

as he is rarely afraid of defining the ways of a prolific American business executive, and thus became an example of one.

I'm not quite sure what the sentence means.. would "setting the standards" be better instead of "defining the ways"?

Improper citation

This article uses exact sentences without quotation from the New York Times article: [1]. At the bottom is a citation, but I don't believe usage of exact wordage is appropriate. Am I wrong here?

Ufohoaxer 04:49, 4 November 2005 (UTC)

Another item.. There is no "Jersey Record". Mike Kelly writes for the Bergen Record. I do not have an account and cannot edit the article. -Anon

I dug pretty hard for a citation on that one and couldn't find one on the 'Net, however in the process I found the paper is actually just called "The Record" (http://www.northjersey.com), sometimes referred to as New Jersey Record of Bergen County. I'll try to dig up what the paper was called at the time of the citation but it's possible neither "Jersey Record" nor "Bergen Record" was actually the proper name. Tendancer 18:48, 4 January 2007 (UTC)

Trump University Language

The wording in the section about Trump University seems extremely one-sided, and almost seems to be taken out of a brochure for TU. I would doubt its neutrality.

"In 2005, Donald Trump launched Trump University ([4]), a business education company that blends his knowledge and experience with world-class curriculum developed by leading academics and business experts. Trump University was founded on the principle of "learning by doing", and its offerings include online courses, multimedia home study programs, publications, Web seminars, and more. Trump is a firm believer in education, and many of his media ventures, like the The Apprentice and the books, have a strong educational element. Trump University grew out of his desire to impart the business knowledge he has accumulated over the years and from his realization that there is a huge demand for practical, convenient education that teaches success."

• Agreed. deleted the spinnity spin.

Triggtay 09:35, 18 February 2006 (UTC)

Vandalism

question: Why do people keep putting "donald hump" and "dump"? I try to fix those usually. -- Dog_Eat_Dog_World

• This page gets an ENORMOUS amount of vandalism - usually once a day, but some days, more than once. It's amazing...why do people hate this guy so much? Or is it because people think they can find an easy target to vandalize so they can screw with the mods, but not make a giant public fuss (i.e. - by effing with a FA). Hmmm (--24.229.100.51 05:23, 25 February 2006 (UTC))

• Some of the vandalism on this page is pretty funny if you can be bothered sifting through the history page by page!

• People hate this guy because he's got the look and personality of a douchebag. But props for knowing how to make money.

The hair

Something really ought to be said about his hair. Anybody want to take a stab at it? -Tim Rhymeless (Er...let's shimmy) 10:27, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

That's certainly a striking picture on this article... 80.47.129.222 16:16, 18 November 2006 (UTC)

I agree his hair should at least be mentioned. What should be said about it though? RealFerrari 13:16, 16 December 2006 (UTC)

Let's not split hairs about his hair as it will become a hair raising topic. Anyway its going to be a case of hair today gone tomorrow. It is hairdly worth the effort.

His hair will never make it onto the page because Trump's people will make sure to remove all reference to the odd creature that eeks out an existence on his scalp

No need to add it to this page. It's already been memorialized as an illustration for the word "comb-over" in urbandictionary.com. FirthFan1 21:47, 17 January 2007 (UTC)

I think Trump concentrates more on "Premium" things

I realized that, whenever people see the name "Trump", they think that it involves luxury buildings and high-end dwellings. IMO Mr. Trump is actually focusing more in the premium end of Real Estate and that is why I had to note in the beginning of the article that Trump always has been a name of luxury living, and when the building is built with the Trump name, IMO it is likely to have a high cost, so that is why I had to note that Trump is more into premium real estate as opposed to just ordinary real estate. Take note of that. — Dark Insanity 03:27, 15 February 2006 (UTC)

Donald Trump's father

Did Donald Trump's father's death bail Donald out of his debt? Many biographies about Donald Trump give the impression that he brought himself out of debt by successful business skills(bias?). If so I would like at least two or more sources other than this one:

<http://www.itp.net/business/features/details.php?id=3356&category=arabianbusiness>,

How do we know that this source is creditable (since so many sites suggest that Donald brought himself out of debt)? On another note, parts of the biography are copied from this site. Doesn't that violate copyright laws? This article needs more comfirmation that either Donald brought himself out of debt or that his father's death saved him. Pseudoanonymous 03:19, 9 March 2006 (UTC)

ACN - endorsement

A recent edit added an ext. link for this organisation, as Trump had endorsed it. Does this imply that it belongs in the article as a result? Should the section just include organisations where Trump has actually purchased a significant share in the company, perhaps? Link remains in the article at present, until this is decided on. --OscarTheCat^talk 19:05, 20 March 2006 (UTC)

About Building Ownership

"Many developers pay Donald Trump to market their properties and be the public face of their projects. For this reason, he does not own many of the buildings that display his name"

Technically, except for the commercial buildings, Trump only owns the commercial portions of his other projects, with minor exceptions like a few units in Trump Tower, etc. Once the condominium unit is sold, ownership is transferred from the developer[s] to the owner. So Trump Tower is the aggregate of at least a hundred individual owners.

Charitable Giving

Not clear whether this section belongs in the article at all. However, in case it does, I cleaned up the prose (which was editorial more than encyclopedic) and added two references to thesmokinggun.Fluxdrip March 27th, 2006

Grammar, Use, and Editing

definition: such; of a kind or character to be indicated or suggested <a bag such as a doctor carries> OR, of the same class, type, or sort <other such clinics throughout the state>, OR of the character, quality, or extent previously indicated or implied <in the past few years many such women have shifted to full-time jobs> (Definitions courtesy of Merriam-Webster).

I removed "such" from this sentence (subject of humor by comedians such as David Letterman and Regis Philbin.). These two comedians are not a kind of comedian. If the objective was to specify these two, among others, then another word is needed. Make changes or suggestion, or I will change in two days. Suggestions: 1). subject of humor by comedians like David Letterman and Regis Philbin. 2). subject of humor by many comedians including David Letterman and Regis Philbin. (preference)

Also, when I edit I try to keep as much as was originally written, except when it is blatantly subjective or not substantiated. I think that we should take the time to edit our additions into the existing context, possibly re-writing it altogether. Just removing a period, adding a comma, and appending our contributuion leads to terrible sentences and confusion.

"such as" is an acceptable idiomatic construct meaning 'for example.' A variety of reliable sources, such as dictionary.com, confirm this use. Fluxdrip

An encyclopedia is not an appropriate place for idioms, especially if its entries are to have broad understanding. If it is the concensus that we violate this rule, okay. The sentence could be clearer to anyone if constructed differently.(Gary Joseph 00:54, 4 April 2006 (UTC))

Red words replacing what's really there.

Eg, "ex-wife Ivana Mantohugandkiss." with Ivana Mantohugandkiss in red, but when I got to edit it, that's not there, only Ivana Trump. How is this done?

Criticism

In the Daniel Radosh article "Famous For What?" (appeared in Radosh's Radar Magazine, and the article is not entirely about Trump, but about famous people's children using their name for fame), he writes:

“Faking it has almost no relationship to talent whatsoever. All that matters is that one’s perceived success outstrips any actual accomplishment. Consider Donald Trump, a businessman whose first job was delivering newspapers from the back of his dad’s limousine and who later parlayed his family’s great wealth into a $3 billion hole of debt. Sure, the fact that his creditors didn’t slit his throat is something of an achievement, but, as with his hit TV show, his triumph has more to do with his outsized persona than with his business acumen. You know those fancy Trump Place apartments that The Apprentice winner Kelly Perdew is overseeing as his prize? The Donald owns only a minority share of them. As with many of “his” properties, other, more solvent owners have let Trump put his name in gold letters on the buildings because it adds $150 a square foot to the condo prices. In the new-fame era, fake success equals real money."

I'd say this is a valid criticism. Trump is not one of the biggest real estate moguls in New York City, but he's often portrayed that way. He wasn't self-made, and that blurb points out that he was, in many ways, a failure at business whose name kept him afloat and helped him get loans. His father was wealthy, and Donald turned that wealth into debt. The real reason Donald is famous is for being in the public eye, not for his achievements. I'd like it if this article pointed out more that he is more a public figure than an accomplished business man. The Radosh article points out something notable, that Trump is paid for the use of his name, but business owners don't trust him to actually manage these buildings' finances.

net worth

I don't think his net worth is anything near that. . . .

"O'Brien, a New York Times reporter who has covered Trump's businesses for more than a decade, wrote in TrumpNation, that In The Art of Being the Donald, The Apprentice star had repeatedly exaggerated his wealth and "was not remotely close to being a billionaire."

The book actually pegs Trump's worth "somewhere between $150 million and $250 million," hardly chump change but a figure much lower than the billions the mogul says he has accumulated, and one he claims in the lawsuit is "grossly misrepresented."

Why was his net worth removed from the article?

Donald in israel

A big project in Israel is also being developed with The Donald. . . .

gevaldik! 08:01, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

• Quite a strange phrase here: "Donald Trump was initially known for his name and its association to a lifestyle and several buildings, bearing his name..."

- er... surely the name became known only after the man became famous???Palefire 10:40, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

GA Failing

No Fair Use Rationales, wild links in the text, the references don't have enough detail in them, you need them like -

"Title of page", Website.com. URL Accessed June (when you last read it), 2006.

Please see WP:CITE and WP:FAIR. Highway ^{Rainbow Sneakers} 15:43, 2 June 2006 (UTC)

Trump Princess

There was a link to a photo of the yacht, the Trump Princess (now Kingdom 5KR), a few days ago, which has since been removed by vandalism. It was one of the biggest yachts in the world at the time. I read on a forum somewhere, that when Trump went bankrupt, he brought down the great Italian yacht builder Benetti with him (they finally seem to have recovered now). Not sure if this is true.

Content?

Excuse me (I may be missing something), but I seem to have noticed that there was a lot of content just recently here.[2] However now, it's not there. Also, from the link I just mentioned, look at the first paragraph under "education". Is this vandalism? I don't want Wikipedia to have a bad name. [3] Once again, please forgive me if there is a logical explanation for this that I may have overlooked, as I was just browsing and noticed diminishing content. ViperBite 03:06, 16 June 2006 (UTC)

Whoops, sorry, I see that the page was reverted :)ViperBite 03:07, 16 June 2006 (UTC)

Is this true or a clever vandalism?

Trump is an avid fan and expert of the mighty god Thor of Norse Mythology. His interest in the god is so great that as a boy he spent his spare time working on his skill with large hammers that represented Thor's powerful hammer Mjolnir. TonyTheTiger 20:05, 20 July 2006 (UTC)

It sure sounds like clever vandalism to me. As this statement is still unsourced five months later, and you've already archived it here on the talk page, I'm going to remove it from the article. If anyone has a source for this, add it back and cite it. Perel 22:40, 22 December 2006 (UTC)

Trivia

Heads up - In the music video for Bobby Brown's "On Our Own" (Ghostbusters II soundtrack), Trump appears in the video walking in front of his building. - Ethan

Recent Content Removals

As many of the others above have noticed, a lot of content has been removed. It was vandalism, and the reversions went back to other vandalized versions. This page should be protected.Gary Joseph 16:15, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Carolyn Kepcher

Hopiakuta 01:01, 1 September 2006 (UTC)

Photo of Trump...

I want to use a photo of Trump on a book; who do I call for permission?

Probably one of the Miss USA winners, 'cause Trump does seem to have a cloooose relationship with them.

Template:Trump Empire

If you look at the history, you can see that when I was still a newbie wikipidian, I inquired about making a template (thinking it was called a stub). I have taken a stab at one. See Template:Trump Empire and comment/edit as appropriate. In a week or so, I will try to append this to most Trump related stuff if there is no major objection. Feel free to help me overcome my organizational skill deficiency.TonyTheTiger 19:19, 3 November 2006 (UTC)

I guess, like anything else Wiki, I should just make my best judgement call and wait to be corrected. I am adding the template now to all appropriate articles. TonyTheTiger 15:23, 4 November 2006 (UTC)

Net worth?

I watched an interview with Donald Trump on CNN minutes ago, and he himself said that he is worth well over 6 billion. I haven't added this but I think it should be.

Is Trump rating viable encyclopedia material?

Is Trump rating viable encyclopedia material? If it is, it should be moved out of the career section as it is not in the same order as the rest of the article. Sirtrebuchet 14:58, 13 December 2006 (UTC)

Agreed. I have removed it. Seems very unencyclopedic. meshach 01:54, 18 December 2006 (UTC)

Rosie O'Donnell Feud

Currently the headline just reads that they have a feud on this page.

But I also just read that Rosie actually has edited this page, and has written some stuff (possibly not all truthful) about Trump and his finances.

This situation needs to be remedied. I am not an expert on either person but someone with some sources should clear this up.

To Rosie and Trump, if you read this: Wikipedia is not a place for your feud, and no one here would appreciate you running roughshod over the article. If you need to do any feuding, MySpace and other social networking sites are great places to begin.

The frequent editors here do not appreciate feuding in an article either, and they can and will just delete your entire articles, and more if nessecary. I've already gone and made a few recommendations to have this article under watch and later if need be we will lock the article. ****

I have upgraded this section and added citations. Before anyone deletes it, please discuss it on this page. Thanks. Gamer83 22:45, 21 December 2006 (UTC)

I don't believe the article on Donald Trump should have his alleged bankruptcy information in it, especially since much of it is lacks any source. In addition, it was written in a biased manner. The article states that Donald Trump "stuck" creditors with losses, which is inflammatory. The party that added this article is obviously not neutral.

Donald Trump's entire page is dominated by the "Rosie O'Donnell Confrontation." There is more on this matter than any other aspect of his life. This needs to be addressed post-haste. With the negative angle of the "Bankruptcy" article and the negative aspect of the "Rosie O'Donnell Confrontation", the page has turned into a personal attack on Donald Trump.

Please sign your posts with four tildes. Allegations that have been published in reliable sources such as professional newspapers are acceptable as long as they are cited and attributed, e.g. "John Smith of the Small Street Journal said ..." As for the size of the section, you are correct: see undue weight. The importance of this media feud is very minor in relationship to the man's entire career. --Dhartung | Talk 03:06, 22 December 2006 (UTC)

We can successfully avoid any domination in either of O'Donnell's biography or Trump's with THIS article. Any and all new information can be inserted there without overshadowing in their biographies. -- Rollo44 02:50, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

I removed the entire section and wrote a two sentence summary in the trivia section. Feel free to flesh it out a bit more, but any more than a small paragraph is excessive. GrahameS 03:45, 22 December 2006 (UTC)

• I've moved the following from the article to discuss it's inclusion...
  • Rosie O'Donnell referenced this article in a weblog entry [4] entitled "Wikipedia", dated December 20, 2006, 8:43 p.m. as evidence in the aforementioned feud.

Should it be included in the trivia section? Self-references to Wikipedia are against WP:SELF and unless it plays a major part in the development of the story, I don't think it should be included at this time. Any thoughts? -- CHANLORD ^[T]/_[C] 06:33, 22 December 2006 (UTC)

It isn't a "self-reference", it's a legitimate citation from a valid outside source. It's a fact.

Davidkevin 06:39, 22 December 2006 (UTC)

• Ummm.... It is a self-reference, the link references back to Wikipedia. It says she referenced it in her blog. I'm not denying that her referencing the article is interesting; however, it's self-referential and it's against WP:SELF. If a larger section was created in the future, it should be referenced there, but I honestly don't believe it should be in the main article. NOTE: Please don't insert it back into the article until we have reached a consensus. I don't like revert wars ;). -- CHANLORD ^[T]/_[C] 07:04, 22 December 2006 (UTC)

What part of "reference to outside source" were you not able to understand? That she referred to the Wikipedia article is a fact, and the source of that fact is her own weblog, making it very definitely not self-referential, which in this context means "referring to another Wikipedia article as a source" which is not the case here.

I don't like revert wars either -- so don't start one by deleting an outside-sourced fact because you're misinterpreting the "no self-references" rule.

Davidkevin 07:15, 22 December 2006 (UTC)

• I'm not denying that it is a fact. I'm kind of asking two things:
  • Is it against WP:SELF. Please read the following quoted straight from the policy
    • Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, so our articles are about their subjects; they are not about the articles themselves. If publicity regarding an article is significant enough to include in Wikipedia, the information would not be included in that article unless it was relevant to the topic of the article itself. For example, a discussion of Stephen Colbert's call for vandalism of the Elephant article might be appropriate for the articles on the Colbert Report or Wikipedia, but not for the article on elephants—the incident, although widely-publicized, had nothing to do with the actual animal. A very rare exception to this is the article on John Seigenthaler, Sr., because the media attention surrounding his Wikipedia entry is now a notable event in his public life.
• And is it relevant in a trivia section? I would appreciate if you would allow time for others to weigh in -- CHANLORD ^[T]/_[C] 07:29, 22 December 2006 (UTC)

• My two cents: One, I do not think that this controversy should be focused on so much. In a few days it will boil over. Let's not add to the fire. Two, if we are to keep a section on this controversy in the body, then it must be short. If it is going to be as long as three indefinite paragraphs, then it should be a new page just on the controvery. Creator1981

• Please see my arguments made HERE at the bottom of the section Donald Trump Controversy. Rollo44 12:05, 6 January 2007 (UTC) Rollo44 02:52, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

• Rosie O'Donnell and Donald Trump Controversy -- Rollo44 15:07, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

Bankruptcy

Donald Trump has never declared bankruptcy. The information in the bankruptcy section is misleading or erroneous. According to Fox News Channel reporter David Asman, who reported on Your World with Neil Cavuto: "We want to make this crystal, perfectly clear: Donald Trump never, never has filed for bankruptcy, not ever." The bankruptcy section if included at all should be moved to the Trump Organization page.

SOURCE: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,179665,00.html Mkw92108 04:01, 22 December 2006 (UTC)

The article is quite factual and never stated Trump has filed for personal bankruptcy. In fact it explicitly used the term "business bankruptcy". I guess in an arguable sense it can be deemed misleading; however, it's not the job of a Donald Trump article to elaborate on the differences between chapter 11 and chapter 13. Rosie's ignorance/lack of understanding is not reason to alter what seems a pretty factual section. I say it's fine as-is. In a month, no one would care anyway. Tendancer 04:52, 22 December 2006 (UTC)

• The bankruptcy section has been updated with citations from various articles reporting on Trump's businesses that have filed for (and gotten out of) bankruptcy over time. The article never states he filed for personal bankruptcy, only that he was close to it due to the recession in 1991, and it was referenced from a Time magazine article. [5]. -- CHANLORD ^[T]/_[C] 06:20, 22 December 2006 (UTC)
  • But maybe the terminology is misleading to people. Trump was in "bankruptcy protection", and bankruptcy connotates a destruction of business and debts to people. You policy experts can decide.70.66.9.162 07:25, 24 December 2006 (UTC)
    • Actually no the article (at least currently) never states Trump was in "bankruptcy protection". It states several times Trump's companies were in bankruptcy protection, which's a BIG difference. While that can be confusing and hence misleading to someone unfamiliar with finance, it really isn't the responsibility of this article to elaborate/educate folks (Rosie?) on the different types of bankruptcy--there is a whole wiki article on Bankruptcy just for that. Tendancer 18:12, 26 December 2006 (UTC)
      • My unreliable understanding is that he never faced formal bankruptcy, but like most Americans was at some point carrying a lot of debt, which is not bankruptcy, but still highly undesirable. Rollo44 20:15, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

Trump started out as a multi-millionaire because of his father and is now really just a promoter for money coming in from Asia. He's not the financial genius that people suggest he is but is only someone born wealthy who was able to make use of the money he already had. For laughs, I suggest listening to some of his CD's on doing business. They are very funny because they don't impart any real knowledge on how to become wealthy (since he was already wealthy) but instead serve as a platform for him to give his views on unrelated topics and what famous people he knows. Absolutely hysterical listening for a long car drive. And while he has never declared personal bankruptcy, he has had a number of his businesses in bankruptcy. But because of his promotional skills, he is still able to attract investors. Jtpaladin 16:52, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

Undue Weight on BK Now?

With the bankruptcy section now pretty thoroughly cited (from its zero-citations state just a day ago), I actually find the article to have undue weight on the bankruptcy instead of his real estate successes. While I'm not a fan of The Ego, and find his attitude on "The Apprentice" rather on the unappealing side, there's no denying the man's success in real-estate, and his talent in self-promotion. As I researched his bankruptcy, sources cite that he inherited $150 million from his father (yes, I'd say that's a pretty damned good start), but he did manage to build it into a billion-dollar empire, nevertheless. (http://www.responsiblewealth.org/press/2004/notalonereportfinal.pdf, which in turn cites 'Richard Conniff, The Natural History of the Rich (New York: W.W. Norton, 2002), p. 266.') Hopefully other editors have an idea as well on how to make this a more balanced article. Tendancer 07:35, 22 December 2006 (UTC)

Unattributed Quotation in article

In the Wikipedia article as of 20December2006 10:06 AM Zulu, we have the following: ". . .In 1995, he combined his casino holdings into the publicly held Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts. Wall Street drove its stock above $35 in 1996, but by 1998 it had fallen into single digits as the company remained profitless and struggled to pay just the interest on its nearly $2 billion in debt. Under such financial pressure, the properties were unable to make the improvements necessary for keeping up with their flashier competitors. . . ."

Compare with this article: ". . .For several years, the new company enjoyed double-digit stock prices. His personal fortune in turn also skyrocketed. And, the man who came close to losing it all leapt onto Forbes' most wealthy list.

Yet, Trump's public company would eventually fall again. Within a few years of soaring high prices, the company stock had fallen into single digits. The one-time powerhouse company remained profitless and struggled just to pay the interest on the $2 billion debt. Trump claimed that the properties were unable to make the improvements necessary for keeping up with its flashier competitors. These financial troubles led to Trump's second trip into bankruptcy. . . ."

-Monica Sanders, LegalZoom article "How Does Trump repeatedly file for Bankruptcy and still stay on top?" http://www.legalzoom.com/articles/article_content/article13737.html —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 64.201.204.9 (talk) 10:05, 22 December 2006 (UTC).

Trump's brief political career

Shouldn't there be some mention of Trump's brief political career as a potential Reform Party candidate for U.S. President?

i think so

Donald's Mother

"Born to Mary MacLeod Trump, native of Tong, Isle of Lewis in Scotland,..."

I shortened this phrase, and moved it to the first paragraph. I just stated that the mother was from Scotland. That is sufficient. --johno95 23:10, 24 December 2006 (UTC)

I don't really understand why you've removed that information - surely if you know exactly where in Scotland she was from it's fair enough to put that in there? Do you have something against Lewis?!?! AllyLamont 12:45, 3 January 2007 (UTC)AllyLamont

• Maybe you could start a separate article, on the details of The Donald's Pedigree. Meanwhile, the Big Question is, does her hairstyle look like his? Wahkeenah 13:16, 3 January 2007 (UTC)

Would someone please add this to the beginning of the Career section? I was wondering how Donald made his first money, and read this on his Trump University site. I'm trying to render it here in unbiased languaged:

Trump began his career at his father's company, the Trump Organization, and initially concentrated on his father's preferred field of middle class rental housing. One of his first projects was the revitalisation of the ailing Swifton Village apartment complex in Cincinnati, Ohio - turning a 1200 unit complex with a 66% vacancy rate to 100% occupancy within a year. He purchased it at half of the price of its original construction, and beautified the property with better landscaping, colonial wood doors on every apartment instead of the previous metal doors, and shutters on every window. He also concentrated on cleanliness. When the Trump Organization sold Swifton Village for $12 million they cleared $6 million in profit.

In the 1970s he benefited from the financially strained New York City government's willingness to give tax concessions...

Trump started out as a multi-millionaire because of his father and is now really just a promoter for money coming in from Asia. He's not the financial genius that people suggest he is but is only someone born wealthy who was able to make use of the money he already had. For laughs, I suggest listening to some of his CD's on doing business. They are very funny because they don't impart any real knowledge on how to become wealthy (since he was already wealthy) but instead serve as a platform for him to give his views on unrelated topics and what famous people he knows. Absolutely hysterical listening for a long car drive. And while he has never declared personal bankruptcy, he has had a number of his businesses in bankruptcy. But because of his promotional skills, he is still able to attract investors. Jtpaladin 16:51, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

His dirty dealings

What about adding some info about his dirty real estate deals or at least attempts? Years ago he was trying to use eminent domain to force a woman to sell her home to him for a casino of his. He didn't like her house near his casino. I don't remember what happened in that.

Also, now he is voiding many sales contracts of his condo preconstruction sales for his Trump Tower Chicago. He sold units prior to construction to help secure bank financing, and now that units are selling for much more than they did when there was nothing built he wants to cancel the sales because he doesn't want his initial investors to profit. Here are some links to articles about this story.

• Trump dumps 'Friends and Family'
• The Donald giveth & The Donald taketh away
• Trump undoing deals

--Kalmia 06:07, 17 January 2007 (UTC)

I agree. There needs to be more of that explained.

rapper

donald trump named in a list of rappers page WTF !!!--SPOOKY CALIBER GONNA EAT U UP LIKE PIE !! 10:31, 21 January 2007 (UTC)

Can someone who knows what they are doing....

Revert the article back so it has it's categories again? I would but I don't know how to do it.172.145.159.42 01:18, 25 January 2007 (UTC)