Donald Trump Biography

Donald Trump adds Las Vegas Hotel to his Biography

2007-08-05T15:50:00.000-05:00

After years of rumors and close calls, Donald Trump is finally an official part of the Las Vegas scene.
The name "Trump" now appears atop the Trump International Hotel & Tower, the first of what will be two golden towers, located on the northern end of the Strip on land behind the shuttered New Frontier.
Each letter is 20 feet tall and the sign as a whole is 140 feet long.
Tower one is home to 1,282 condominium units (no casino), that are fetching in the neighborhood of $1,350 per square foot.
However, the tower won't be occupied by its tenants until 2008.
Tower number two is under construction.

Donald Trump Biography may no longer include Trump Casinos

2007-06-26T14:44:00.000-05:00

A deal to buy Trump Entertainment Resorts and its Atlantic City, N.J., casinos could be reached this week and Donald Trump said walking away could be hard.
"I've been here for so long," Trump told the Philadelphia Inquirer. "It's been really a wonderful journey."
Sources familiar with negotiations said Trump is asking more than $2.2 billion for the Taj Mahal, Trump Plaza and Trump Marina casinos. The deal includes $1.5 billion in debt. He said he hopes whoever buys his casinos will keep him on in some capacity in the resort where he's been a fixture for 26 years.
"I'm one of the biggest developers in the world," he told the Inquirer. "But I have a great loyalty to Atlantic City."
At least four billion-dollar-plus casinos are being built and competitors are spending hundreds of millions of dollars into upgrades to lure more affluent players."The casinos have never been a big thing for me in terms of dollars," Trump said. "It's not a very large part of my company but it's an important part."
Trump said his share of the Atlantic City casinos makes up less than 3 percent of his net worth, listed at $2.9 billion, the Inquirer reported.

Donald Trump Biography now includes grandchild

2007-05-13T20:48:00.000-05:00

Donald Trump´s son Donald Trump Jr. and his wife Vanessa, both 29, welcomed their first child named Kai Madison on Saturday afternoon in New York City.
The baby arrived two weeks early but the new dad, an executive in the Trump Organization, announced that mother and child are great.
The new grandfather Donald Trump and his wife Melania have a one- year-old son named Barron.

Bald not part of Donald Trump Bography

2007-04-02T14:47:00.000-05:00

DETROIT - One of the world's most famous 'do's - considered by many to be a fashion don't - remains intact after its owner, Donald Trump, prevailed in Sunday night's "hair match" at Wrestlemania.
Trump trumped World Wrestling Entertainment owner Vince McMahon in the "Battle of the Billionaires" at the WWE's largest annual pay-per-view event. After the real estate mogul and reality TV star triumphed, he gleefully took the shears to McMahon's head.
Trump and McMahon didn't actually battle it out in the ring, but instead had representatives grapple. The winner, Trump's guy Bobby Lashley, bested McMahon's chosen wrestler, Umaga. Trump wasn't just a cheerleader during the match. He leaped off his feet at one point and drove McMahon into the ground, then pummeled him with some close-fisted punches.

Lashley's pinfall victory over the 300-plus-pound "Samoan Bulldozer" meant that McMahon had to yield to Trump's razor and the locks fell. Wrestling legend and current action film actor "Stone Cold" Steve Austin served as the special guest referee for the match at Ford Field, home of the NFL's Detroit Lions.
It wasn't all laughs for Trump, though.
After celebrating in the ring with a cold beer - Austin's preferred post-victory beverage - an unsuspecting Trump was given a "Stunner" by Austin - he had his head driven into Austin's shoulder. Lashley tended to Trump while Austin jogged toward the dressing room to the roaring approval of the crowd.
The "sports entertainment" event was held fittingly on April Fool's Day and was filled with loud music, pyrotechnics and screeching, flashbulb-popping fans.
The Trump-McMahon showdown was one of the featured matches at the 23rd edition of the professional wrestling extravaganza, which returned to Detroit after two decades.
Wrestlemania 3, held at the Pontiac Silverdome in 1987, drew 93,000 fans and featured a seminal moment in the sport, when Hulk Hogan bodyslammed Andre the Giant.
Sunday's event drew 80,103 fans, a new Ford Field record, breaking the previous record - 78,129 - set during the December 2003 college BasketBowl between Michigan State and Kentucky.

Donald Trump to sell off casinos?

2007-03-10T12:53:00.000-06:00

Shares in the casino company that bears Donald Trump's name rose nearly 8 percent Friday on speculation that the casinos are up for sale.
Media outlets including CNBC and the Web site of the Star-Ledger of Newark reported Friday that Trump Entertainment Resorts, where Donald Trump is chairman, had hired Merrill Lynch to help assess several options — including selling all or some of the company's casinos.
Trump Entertainment spokesman Tom Hickey did not immediately return a message from The Associated Press seeking comment.
But analysts said a sale of some sort would help the company, which emerged from bankruptcy protection less than two years ago.
A report from Prudential Equity Group said the company is at risk over the next two years because all of its casinos — Trump Plaza, Trump Marino and Trump Taj Mahal — are in Atlantic City, a place facing threats from coming restrictions on smoking in casinos, new slot machine parlors in the Philadelphia area and plans for machines at the Meadowlands in northern New Jersey.
"Nevertheless, the company has assets and real estate that could be attractive to a buyer interested in Atlantic City," the report said.
Adam Steinberg, who follows the casino industry for Morgan Joseph & Co. Inc., said one fix for the company would be to swap a casino for a riverboat gambling operation elsewhere to diversify its assets.
This is not the first time lately there's been talk of Trump doing a deal with one of his Atlantic City properties. Last year, gaming mogul Steve Wynn was reported to have been in talks to build a new casino on Trump-owned land in Atlantic City.
Shares of Trump Entertainment closed Friday on the New York Stock Exchange at $18.19 — up 7.95 percent.

Donald Trump Biography to include star on Hollywood Walk Of Fame

2007-01-10T09:24:00.000-06:00

Real Estate tycoon-turned-TV star Donald Trump is set to take a break from his ongoing war of words with Rosie O'Donnell to unveil his star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame next Tuesday.
Trump's star will be the famous walkway's 2,327th and will be located in front of the Hollywood and Highland shopping complex.

New e-book

2006-12-14T20:49:00.000-06:00

Donald Trump Jr. to be a Dad

2006-11-15T14:30:00.000-06:00

Donald Trump Jr, 28, and his wife Vanessa, also 28, are expecting their first child - also the first grandchild for Donald Trump! The baby is due early next summer, and the couple will not be finding out the sex before the delivery

Donald Trump adds residential property sales record to his Biography

2006-11-11T14:58:00.000-06:00

Celebrities and investors forked over $700 million in just a few hours to buy up more than 460 suites in Donald Trump's luxury hotel-condominium project in Waikiki.
Sales contracts were signed and deposits put down Thursday for 464 hotel suites at the Trump International Hotel and Tower Waikiki Beach Walk, developers said. The sellout forced the cancellation of a planned second day of sales.
Developers said the sales set a record for the amount of residential property, both in dollar value and unit volume, sold in one development on a single day. The previous record was set in December 2005 when Vancouver-based Intrawest Corp. sold 318 suites in the first phase of a Maui resort for $425 million, according to the Los Angeles-based developer Irongate.
Trump featured the development on his TV reality series, "The Apprentice." The Trump sale attracted celebrities including entertainer Don Ho, NBA players, and pro golfers, along with a Japanese rap star and baseball player, said Jason Grosfeld, co-founder of Irongate.
He would not identify the other investors by name.
"I would have bought out the entire 23rd floor, but someone beat me to it," Ho, who purchased two one-bedroom units, told the Honolulu Star Bulletin.
The average price for a suite was $1.5 million, a 500-square-foot studio for about $400,000, and a three-bedroom penthouse for more than $9 million, developers said.
The 38-story tower will include a library, wine cellar, lobby bar, cafe, fitness center, spa, among other amenities. Construction is scheduled to begin in December and to be completed in mid-2009.

Donald Trump teams up with Robert Kiyosaki in a get rich style biography

2006-10-24T10:43:00.000-05:00

Billionaire Donald Trump - a man who proves that no matter how rich you are you can still have bad hair - has teamed up with Robert Kiyosaki - author of hugely successful books like Rich Dad Poor Dad - to reveal why they would like us, to make lots of money.
If you were a betting person your money would be pretty safe on picking this team as a winner.
Their combined success means plenty of people will hang off this duo's every money-making word.
The just released Trump-Kiyosaki book Why We Want You To Be Rich: Two Men One Message is already a bestseller. And as you can imagine the launch party was a swanky kind of a do.

Donald Trump Biography will now include animated series

2006-10-14T14:41:00.000-05:00

For once, it may not be a bad thing for animators to hear the words “You’re fired.” Premiere Publishing Group Inc. (PPG), publisher of Trump Magazine, has announced plans to make an animated series featuring business tycoon and reality TV star Donald Trump. PPG CEO and Trump Magazine editor Michael Jacobson issued a letter of intent on Friday, Oct. 6, between Sobe Life LLC and Trump World Publications Inc. to pursue production on the series, which will also feature other Trump execs in animated form. "Our first step is producing two shorts and a pilot to present back to Mr. Trump for approval," Jacobson comments. "We have interest from major animation houses and television networks to produce the series, and project the shorts andpilot to be produced within 90 days, with the series in production first quarter 2007." Jacobson bought the idea for an animated Trump series from business associate Mitchell Schultz, and retains all rights under a buy/sell agreement.Trump won’t be the first billionaire businessman to be animated in his own series. In February of this year, DIC Ent. announced that it is developing a direct-to-DVD animated series with investor Warren Buffet. Now in production, The Secret Millionaire’s Club will consist of 13 titles that promote financial literacy to kids through relatable characters and real-world situations. Featuring the words, voice and likeness of Buffett, the first two installments are scheduled for release this fall.

Donald Trump Biography- Trump magazine expands

2006-10-07T13:50:00.000-05:00

On Thursday, Trump Magazine (yes, it really exists) announced that it will unveil a regional South Florida edition. Starting in February 2007, the national quarterly publication, which offers readers a peak into the lifestyle and business interests of Trump himself, will release a unique cover and content pertaining to the region.
The new edition will, according to a press release, increase the magazine's circulation and up its complimentary distribution at upscale locations including Trump properties in South Beach, Boca Raton and others.
The expansion comes after the magazine's parent company, Premiere Publishing Group (other-otc: PPBL - news - people ), released a New York City edition in October. Within 30 days of its launch, the city edition sold out and yielded $51,000 worth of new advertising.
"We experienced great success launching the regional New York edition…which leads us to believe there is a major market for a Trump Florida edition," said Michael Jacobson, editor and publisher of Trump and chief executive of the magazine's parent company, to journalists.
"Donald Trump has many existing and new real estate venture in the works in the area, so it's natural to regionalize the magazine there."
Currently, the eponymous publication boasts a circulation of 207,000, a quarter of which are distributed to properties of Trump.
That's left the real estate mogul and reality television star quite pleased. Appearing on CNBC's "On the Money" in September, Trump offered praise to Jacobson and the 24 workers the magazine's parent company employs.
"This started off as a magazine to go to all my places," said Trump on the show. "All of a sudden it started selling fast and they said let's take it to the next level. That's what they done."
Clearly Trump's name is the magazine's major selling point. But Jacobson is the man who started it all.
Staying in the Trump Martina hotel-casino in Atlantic City, N.J. after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Jacobson noticed there were no magazines in his suite. Then, the idea came to him and he soon found himself in a meeting with Trump, eventually winning his support to start a magazine called Trump World, which focused on the billionaire's real estate properties.
First published in 2002, it was largely a failure, losing more than $3 million dollars as of December 2005.
Trump, of course, didn't lose money though. A licensing agreement earned him $120,000 for each of the two issues published in 2005.
Starting in the spring of 2006, however, Jacobson changed directions, shifting the magazine's focus to Trump's opulent lifestyle and outsized personality. He also began marketing it to men, placing Donald on the cover and re-naming it Trump Magazine.
The results of the strategic shift have been successful, putting the magazine into the black. According to Jacobson, the magazine turned a profit of about a quarter of a million dollars on the spring issue.
Now the magazine, which retails for $5.99 an issue or $19.99 for a yearly subscription features advertisements from high end retailers like Rolls-Royce and Sector watches. It can be found in airports and stores like Barnes & Noble (nyse: BKS - news - people ) in major cities.
This past July, Jacobson even took the magazine's-parent company public. (Premiere publishes another profitable magazine called Poker Life). Both he and Trump now own close to 23% of total shares, which as of the closing bell on Thursday, were trading at 69 cents per share, down 4% or 3 cents from the previous day.
According to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Trump receives a royalty fee of $135,000 for each issue starting in 2006 and will continue to do so through 2009. He also has the right to review and approve each issue of the magazine at least 10 days before it's published.

Donald Trump invests in Trump Magazine

2006-09-28T20:30:00.000-05:00

Donald Trump on Wednesday got 1.7 million shares of Premiere Publishing Group Inc., which publishes the billionaire real estate developer's namesake Trump Magazine, thanks to a gentlemen's agreement.
"An agreement is an agreement," said Premiere Publishing Group Chief Executive Officer Michael Jacobson. He gave Trump the shares because when the two men were launching the magazine together, they agreed to hold the same amount of shares.

"We had this oral understanding," Jacobson said. "What happened is a couple of weeks ago he (Trump) asked me about it and he was absolutely right."
Jacobson has published Trump Magazine for about three years, and is also its editor.
The shares were given to Trump without consideration, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
Trump and Jacobson now own an equal amount of company stock _ about 3.7 million shares each, according to SEC filings. Added together, that's a 45.8 percent stake in the New York-based company, which went public in June, Jacobson said.
Premiere Publishing Group shares closed Wednesday at 80 cents each, down 7 cents.
Jacobson visited the Trump Marina hotel-casino in Atlantic City, N.J., "to blow off some steam" after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and noticed there were no magazines in his suite.
"The lightbulbs went off and I said, 'Trump, the magazine,'" Jacobson recalled.
He got a meeting with Trump and won the mogul's support to launch a men's luxury-lifestyle magazine using the Trump name. Legend Merchant Group, a New York investment company, later persuaded Jacobson to take his publishing company public.
The investment company gave Jacobson 5.4 million shares and Trump 2 million shares, Jacobson said. But the two already had an oral agreement to hold the same amount of shares, Jacobson said. The CEO and editor said he stood by his word and gave Trump enough shares for him to have an equal stake.
The quarterly magazine has a circulation of 200,000, Jacobson said, adding that 50,000 copies are distributed at Trump properties.
Trump first appeared on his namesake magazine's cover for the Spring 2006 issue. Trump's daughter, Ivanka, is on the Summer 2006 cover.

Donald Trump expanding mortage business

2006-09-01T14:25:00.000-05:00

Donald Trump, a self-styled celebrity legend known for building office towers and starring in a reality TV show that made famous the line, "You're fired!" is getting into the mortgage business in Massachusetts and 14 other states.
Trump's press agents disclosed today that Trump Mortgage LLC has acquired mortgage licenses in such states as Rhode Island, Connecticut, Maine, and New Hampshire as well as in Massachusetts.
"The company is expanding at a very rapid rate, and I anticipate we will be awarded many additional state licenses in the very near future," Trump said in a statement.

Apprentice TV Show Star Donald Trump adds Hollywood Star to his Biography

2006-07-25T09:31:00.001-05:00

DONALD TRUMP will acquire more real estate next year - this time on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. “The Apprentice” boss has been selected to receive a star for the year of 2007 and he’s all fired up about it! “I always assumed the only hall of fame I’d be in would be in a real estate hall of fame, but frankly, this is even more of a thrill,” said The Donald. Are the Walk people scratching and clawing for new star recipients or what?

New Donald Trump Biography, Trump Unauthorized to air

2006-07-14T11:54:00.000-05:00

The telefilm, Trump Unauthorized will show how even as a young man, Trump was the heir apparent to his father
A schoolboy’s dream, a competitor’s challenge. Real Estate King, Media Mogul, Reality TV Star. Donald J Trump is the very definition of the American success story. He has continually set new standards of excellence while expanding his interests in luxury residential real estate, world-class hotels, office buildings, championship golf clubs, gaming and entertainment.Trump Unauthorized, a much-anticipated dramatisation of Donald Trump, is based on Gwenda Blair’s acclaimed biographies, Donald Trump: Master Apprentice and The Trumps: Three Generations that Built an Empire, as well as other sources.It highlights the man’s tenacity and ingenuity, hallmarks of his career ever since his beginnings in Queens, working for his father, Fred, a successful developer. The telefilm shows how, even as a young man, Trump was the heir apparent to his father, outshining his older brother, Fred Jr., and dreaming bigger than even his dad imagined.Viewers will see how his first wife, Ivana, matched his ambition with her own drive as a businesswoman, overseeing interior design on some of his projects even as they raised three children.When Trump fell in love with model Marla Maples, the media glare focused on his personal life, pitting the once golden Donald and Ivana against each other. At that time, his business also faltered; he neared financial collapse and had to unload some of his most glamorous assets. But, in record time, Trump orchestrated a financial turnaround that cemented his reputation as the comeback king.Tune into Trump Unauthorized, on Star Movies, tonight at 7:10 pm.

Donald Trump to produce new real estate show

2006-06-07T20:31:00.000-05:00

by Gina Serpe Jun 7, 2006, 11:00 AM PT From E-online
Donald Trump is going from boardroom to Boardwalk.
The Apprentice star is set to exec produce a real estate reality show based on the classic board game Monopoly.

According to Variety, Trump has teamed up with 30 Days producer R. J. Cutler to create the series, produced in conjunction with Monopoly manufacturer Hasbro.
Details on Trump's latest foray into primetime are scarce, with no word on show locations, nature of the competitions and whether or not Trump will restrict his involvement to simply behind-the-scenes or suck it up, don a monocle and top hat and appear in the show.
Though the latter proposition is admittedly unlikely.
While Variety offers no specifics, it does say the reality series will involve a game element in which contestants will somehow acquire likely dilapidated properties and fix them up in order to maximize their net worth.
The trade mag also reports that The Donald's numerous real estate holdings would provide ideal platforms for any building-hopping that might occur.
While there's been no declaration of where the show may go into production, the likeliest locale would be Atlantic City. Its streets not only provide the setting of Monopoly, but Trump has several properties in the gambling town, including his Trump Taj Mahal Hotel and Casino.
The proposed show wouldn't mark the real estate tycoon's first time in the board game biz, or his first time teaming up with Hasbro. In August of 2004, the toy manufacturer reissued Trump: The Game, which the titular mogul had previously likened to Monopoly.
"It has similarities to Monopoly in that you're trying to acquire properties," Hasbro spokesman Mark Morris said at the time, making Trump's venture back into the gaming world look less like an homage to a classic board game and suspiciously close to yet more self-promotion.
Trump and Co. are set to meet with the four major networks--ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox--next week to try and sell the series.
Variety claims that Trump's now-uncertain role on the show will likely be determined by which network the show appears on, if any, and whether his long-running but ratings-anemic Apprentice is in production at the same time.
The real estate mogul will likely take a page out of Simon Cowell's playbook, who managed to parlay his American Idol cache into exec producing gigs on reality projects on several networks, all while managing to avoid any on-screen requirements.
Should the Monopoly-based show make it on the air, it wouldn't be the game's first small screen incarnation.
In the summer of 1990, ABC briefly aired a Monopoly game show, produced by genre master Merv Griffin. The brief run featured three contestants answering crossword puzzle-like clues in order to acquire properties on a giant Monopoly board.

Donald trump biography/investment book to be self-published

2006-04-24T19:34:00.000-05:00

The Donald himself has jumped into self-publishing, teaming up with the also-very-wealthy and bestselling author Robert Kiyosaki to publish on their own a book about investing, the trade magazine Publishers Weekly reported today. Trump has many books but this will be his
first self-published effort.

Donald Trump has new addition to the family

2006-03-20T14:31:00.000-06:00

It's a boy for DONALD TRUMP and wife MELANIA, who gave birth to a healthy baby early Monday morning.
Trump confirmed the good news to MSNBC, reporting in that Melania was doing "great" and that everyone was just "perfect." The real estate mogul also revealed to the "Insider"'s PAT O'BRIEN that they've named the baby BARRON WILLIAM.

Donald Trump Biography includes new look casino

2005-12-15T09:25:00.000-06:00

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- Hoping to woo customers and boost employee morale after a "death spiral" that ended in Chapter 11, Donald Trump's casino company announced plans Wednesday to spend $110 million sprucing up its three Atlantic City gambling halls. Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc., which emerged from bankruptcy last May, will spend $25 million on an indoor promenade at Trump Taj Mahal, $4 million on a new restaurant at Trump Plaza and an undetermined amount on a new restaurant and other improvements at Trump Marina.

"Our goal is to focus on what matters most to our customers, and to create unique and exciting venues designed to add value to their Trump Atlantic City experience," said James B. Perry, chief executive officer. The company, which was previously known as Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts, got a name change and a new lease on life last spring after the Chapter 11 reorganization, in which Trump ceded majority control of the company to bondholders but retained his status as chairman and largest single stockholder. The reorganization package also included a new $500 million line of credit, and the company has since agreed to sell off its Gary, Ind., riverboat casino for $253 million to focus on shoring up the Atlantic City casinos, which cut corners on maintenance and capital expenditures for years because the debt-laden company was so cash-poor _ and lost gamblers as a result. In an interview Wednesday, Perry called the company's slow pre-bankruptcy decline a "death spiral" from which the company is still recovering. The improvements outlined Wednesday, which represent the first phase of what Perry called a multiyear plan to reinvigorate the casinos, include: _conversion of a corridor leading from the Trump Taj Mahal's parking garage into a promenade featuring new stores and restaurants, and a new high-end Asian games area, noodle bar and lounge on the casino floor. _a facelift for the Boardwalk facade of Trump Plaza Hotel & Casino, changes to the lobby that improve accessibility and the $4 million replacement of the casino's New Yorker deli with a yet-unnamed restaurant. _renovations to Trump Marina Hotel Casino's meeting and convention space and the construction of a new restaurant. _new uniforms for employees at all three properties, and renovations to employee cafeterias at all three. The projects will be completed over the next two years, although costs were given only for the Taj Mahal promenade and Trump Plaza restaurant. "All these things add up to enhancing the customer experience, which hopefully makes that customer at Borgata or Tropicana say, 'Oh, I hear it's nicer at the Taj now. Let's go see it,"' Perry said. The company has already spent $32 million this year on room renovations at the three properties, a new bar at Trump Plaza and renovations to that building's casino floor. The investments apparently have begun to pay off. Last month, Trump Entertainment reported third-quarter profit of $3.2 million, compared with a $25 million loss in the same period of 2004. In June, construction will start on a previously announced 800-room hotel tower at Trump Taj Mahal. Meanwhile, the company is applying for a license to operate a slot parlor in Philadelphia. Last year, Pennsylvania legalized up to 61,000 slot machines at 14 licensed venues, including two in Philadelphia

Donald Trump Biography bombs

2005-05-28T09:10:00.000-05:00

Donald Trump's life on film wasn't much of a draw for ABC Tuesday night, and no one is happier than Trump himself.
"They don't want to watch crap," Trump told the Daily News yesterday. "I'm so happy about it. It was just not done well."
"Trump Unauthorized," based on Gwenda Blair's book about the Trump family, was commissioned by ABC earlier this season. But while the book covered other aspects of the Donald's family life, the film focused on his public life and marriages, ending with a fictional producer coming to talk about a new show.
Ironically, the film aired less than a week after the third season of "The Apprentice" aired its finale on NBC.
ABC scheduled it on what might well have been one of the toughest nights this month.
NBC had the finale of "The Contender," ABC aired "Trump," CBS had the wedding of "Survivor" stars Rob Mariano and Amber Brkich, and Fox aired its monster hit "American Idol."
All beat "Trump Unauthorized."
The ABC film averaged 5.5 million viewers, to finish fourth in the time period - and it was clobbered.
For example, the first hour of the movie faced Fox's medical drama "House," which averaged 19.6 million viewers. And in the final hour, "Law & Order" won with 15.8 million viewers.
"It was sort of entertaining, but not done well," Trump said of the film, which got weak reviews.
"This has nothing to do with me," he said. "I am a ratings machine."
As for the content, Trump said he didn't watch the whole thing, but what he did see wasn't bad enough to call for legal action - which he had threatened before the tele-movie aired.
"I think there were a lot of inaccuracies, but it's not worth suing over," Trump said. "It got terrible reviews. I am very happy they want to watch the real Donald Trump and not an imitation Donald Trump."

Donald Trump Biography

2005-05-25T09:10:00.000-05:00

All those who are dying to know more about Donald Trump, please wave a $50 bill in the air. . . . Hmm -- what's this, no takers? Okay, how about waving a 20? . . . A 10? . . . A quarter?
A white handkerchief of surrender?

Katheryn Winnick, with Justin Louis as Donald Trump, has a lark playing dumped wife Ivana in the ABC movie "Trump Unauthorized." (By Peter Stranks -- Abc)
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Donald Trump, among others, has made sure we know more than enough about the Manhattan tycoon's self-made success and self-publicized life, so a movie with the title "Trump Unauthorized" hardly sounds like the sure-fire treat of the year. Its implicit promise of scandalous poop isn't kept, either; Trump is shown to be cold, ruthless and megalomaniacal at times, but that shouldn't shock anyone.
It hardly makes him unique among big-time entrepreneurs, or a contemptible skunk of the Enron stripe.
ABC's film, at 9 tonight on Channel 7, tries hard not to plug Trump's NBC series "The Apprentice," and to stay on the safe side, ABC scheduled it for the week after that show came to its season's end. The film ends with Trump coming out of a slump and being pitched the series by a man we can presume to be producer Mark Burnett. The title isn't even mentioned in the dialogue; Burnett says he hasn't thought of one yet, just a concept.
But he doesn't like firing people, Trump protests. Somehow he managed to change his tune on that.
The film opens, meanwhile, with a prefatory vignette from the Donald's toddlerhood; he proudly spells out his full name in alphabet blocks. It would have been more revealing if he'd put "CEO" after it, or maybe "Mr." in front of it.
Quickly the child grows up to be the man with the gravity-defying haircut, played capably by Justin Louis. Although Trump's life has been marked by a certain flamboyance, his manner, at least in public, has almost always been cool and detached, almost a walking blank, so it's not an easy part to play. Louis makes the unmagnetic magnate about as intriguing as any actor could. Most of the excitement is in the world of glamour that swirls around him, with Trump the proverbial smooth operator at the relatively calm center.
It's not a rags-to-riches story, either, as a film about, say, Ted Turner would be. Trump's father, Fred (Ron McLarty), is a successful businessman himself. In addition to business tips along the way, Daddy advises Sonny-boy during his extramarital affair with Marla Maples. "Don't fool around with only one woman," he says. His other warning is simple and to the point: "Don't get caught" in flagrante delicto.
The hottest scene in the picture is a pushing-and-shouting match at a ski resort between the then-Mrs. Trump, Ivana (Katheryn Winnick), and tag-along mistress Maples (Jennifer Baxter). "Stay a-vay from my hoos-bund!" Ivana shouts. Winnick brings a subtle sense of humor to the role -- or maybe she just looks as though she's going to bust out laughing at any moment -- but this viewer had trouble understanding her dialogue through the thick accent, except for the occasional word like "veen-doze" (windows).
There is, indeed, drama in Trump's life beyond the parts that have made yummy headlines in the New York Post. Trump's older brother, Fred Jr., eclipsed and ignored, becomes an alcoholic partly because he feels like "a dolphin born into a family of sharks." His death seems to jolt the Donald in a way that nothing else does. He shows no emotion, however, when three business associates die in a helicopter crash. One was his longtime lawyer, Peter Wennik, played with welcome style and energy by Saul Rubinek. Trump and Wennik had previously parted company.
Their farewell lunch, a scene or two earlier, reveals Trump at his most insufferable. He is "no one's husband and no one's partner," Trump trumpets, and he actually has the hubris to declare, "I'm American royalty." When he tells Wennik to "either change the world with me or go away," the lawyer gets up from the table -- and goes away. Lucky Trump has Marla to comfort him with such sentiments as, "I love you. You're my sweet little boy."
At a memorial service for the executives, Trump says, "We must ensure that they will never be forgotten. I intend on doing just that." Is the shaggy syntax perhaps intentional? It sounds as if Trump is saying he intends to forget them. And it's suggested he already has. If he were the first coldblooded, small-hearted businessman in the world, this might be news, but nothing could be further from the you-know-what.
And speaking of the truth, during their brief meeting, Trump expresses skepticism to Burnett about doing a TV show and Burnett says, "If you're not on TV, you're nothing. You don't exist." One would think Trump already shared that view, based on his insistent visibility up to that point. Burnett also says, "This isn't real life, Mr. Trump. This is reality." That's probably the shrewdest line in the movie.
Otherwise, we're shown lots of burnished gold fixtures and luxurious, gauche surroundings and long white limos and long red carpets. The movie is neither an insult to its subject nor an encomium. It's just two hours of Trump tripe, easily forgotten even as the closing credits roll.

Unauthorized Donald Trump Biography on May 24th

2005-04-22T09:10:00.000-05:00

ABC ORIGINAL MOVIE: TRUMP UNAUTHORIZEDAir Date: 5/24/05 (TUESDAY)Time Slot: 9:00 PM-11:00 PM EST on ABC
"TRUMP UNAUTHORIZED," ABC'S UNAUTHORIZED BIOPIC OF DONALD TRUMP, TO AIR TUESDAY, MAY 24 ON THE ABC TELEVISION NETWORK
"Trump Unauthorized," ABC's much-anticipated dramatization about legendary real estate developer Donald Trump, will air TUESDAY, MAY 24 (9:00-11:00 p.m., ET) as an "ABC Premiere Event." The telefilm, starring Justin Louis ("Missing," "Hidden Hills") as Trump, is based on Gwenda Blair's acclaimed biographies, Donald Trump: Master Apprentice and The Trumps: Three Generations that Built an Empire, as well as other sources.
"Trump Unauthorized" spotlights the man's tenacity and ingenuity, hallmarks of his career ever since his beginnings in Queens, working for his father, Fred, an established and successful developer. The telefilm shows how, even as a young man, Trump was the heir apparent to his father, outshining his older brother, Fred Jr., and dreaming bigger than even his dad imagined, always with an eye to making it big in Manhattan. The movie follows Trump's first major success, transforming the derelict Commodore Hotel into the luxury Grand Hyatt during New York's lean economic years. As his empire grew, the telefilm shows that Trump became a master at using the media to bring favorable attention to his visions, even when he sometimes clashed with City Hall, community opponents or other 'naysayers.' Viewers will see how his first wife, Ivana, matched his ambition with her own drive as a businesswoman, overseeing interior design on some of his projects, as they raised three children. However, his brother Fred Jr.'s alcoholism and the unraveling of Donald's marriage would challenge the titan. When Trump fell in love with model Marla Maples, the media glare focused on his personal life, pitting the once golden Donald and Ivana against each other. At that time his business also faltered; he neared financial collapse and had to unload some of his most glamorous assets. But, in record time, Trump orchestrated a financial turnaround that cemented his reputation as the comeback king, burnishing a legacy as one of America's most celebrated developers and businessmen.
The star of the movie, Justin Louis, is a regular on Lifetime's "Missing," and also starred in the TV series "Hidden Hills" and "Trinity." His other TV credits include a recurring role on "24" and guest starring on "C.S.I.," "ER," "Gideon's Crossing" and many other shows. The role of Ivana Trump is played by Katheryn Winnick, who has guest starred on "CSI: Miami," "Oz" and "Law & Order: Criminal Intent." She recently portrayed herself on "The It Factor." Her film roles include the forthcoming "Cloud Nine," with Burt Reynolds, and starring in "Julian & Chalice." Actor and bestselling author Ron McLarty ("Into the Fire") plays Fred Trump Sr.; Jennifer Baxter ("America's Prince: The John F. Kennedy Jr. Story") is Marla Maples; Saul Rubinek ("Gleason," "Rush Hour 2," "The Family Man") portrays Peter Wennik; Chris Potter ("The Pacifier") is Fred Trump, Jr.; Richard Portnow ("Laughter on the 23rd Floor") is Mayor Ed Koch; and David Lipper ("The Pacifier") is Robert Trump.
Executive producers of "Trump Unauthorized" are Barbara Lieberman ("Gleason"), Dan Lux and Vin Di Bona; producers are Jvrg Westerkamp and Michael Hagemeyer. The director is John David Coles, and the teleplay is by Keith Curran (credit not contractual). The made-for-TV-movie is produced by Barbara Lieberman Productions in association with D. Lux/Di Bona Productions, Pacific Coast Productions and Apollo ProMovie. A TV parental guideline will be assigned closer to airdate.

Donald Trump Biography

2005-03-18T09:10:00.000-06:00

Warner Business Books, an imprint of the Time Warner Book Group, announced today that it will publish a book by New York Times investigative reporter Timothy L. O'Brien titled "TRUMPWORLD: The Art of Being the Donald." It is slated for publication in October 2005.
TRUMPWORLD takes readers inside the world of Donald Trump -- a world of style, substance, and money. Yet beneath his shimmering facade lies a man the public doesn't see. O'Brien, who has covered Trump for years, pulls back the velvet curtain to offer a unique, personal look inside the life of Trump, who is one of the most captivating -- and mysterious -- personalities of the modern era. Featuring interviews and insights not only with Trump's closest friends and associates but also with The Donald himself, TRUMPWORLD promises to be a publishing event of Trump-sized proportions.
In making the announcement, Rick Wolff, Executive Editor and Vice President, Warner Books said, "There are many books on Donald Trump -- several that he's written and even some that he's authorized. But the truth is, none of them come even close to this very objective look at this man's career and image. TRUMPWORLD is an eye-opening, jaw-dropping, first-class piece of journalism and we're thrilled to be publishing this blockbuster book by one of the nation's top investigative reporters."
Timothy L. O'Brien is a reporter for the New York Times and the author of Bad Bet: The Inside Story of the Glamour, Glitz and Danger of America's Gambling Industry. He lives outside New York City.
Warner Business Books is a division of the Time Warner Book Group, which is a unit of Time Inc.

2005-02-09T21:49:00.000-06:00

Hoping to cash in on the fame of a rival network star, ABC has approved plans for a television movie about New York real estate tycoon Donald Trump, who hosts NBC's hit reality show "The Apprentice."
Now all ABC needs is an actor with a lot of attitude and a loud voice. Combed-over hair would be a plus.
No air date has been set for the as-yet untitled film, but casting will start immediately, and the movie could begin shooting as early as next month, ABC executives said on Wednesday.
Although celebrity biographies can be commonplace subjects on prime-time TV, it is rare for one network to enlist the star power of a competitor's existing talent roster in a bid to boost its own ratings.
But Quinn Taylor, senior vice president for movies and mini series at ABC, said Trump's status as a pop culture icon transcends his TV role as corporate mentor on "The Apprentice."
"This is a man who continually invented and reinvented himself," Taylor told Reuters "He's terribly driven -- obviously has a need and desire to succeed, and the wherewithal and chutzpah to do it, primarily on his terms."
He said the role could end up being filled with a name performer or a newcomer, adding, "a comb-over is not a prerequisite. That's the beauty of a good wig."
Trump himself is not cooperating with the project. Instead, ABC has acquired rights to Gwenda Blair's 2001 book, "The Trumps: Three Generations That Built an Empire," which will serve as source material for the movie.
ABC said the film will cover the past 25 years of Trump's roller-coaster business career and personal life, which has long been fodder for tabloid headlines chronicling his casino deals and relationships with supermodels. But the network said the project would steer away from details about his latest incarnation as a TV star.
There was no immediate comment from either NBC or the Trump Organization.