Trump: How to Get Rich

3:00 P.M. I take a walk over to Trump Park Avenue, my new superluxury building on Park Avenue and Fifty-ninth Street. This was the former Delmonico Hotel, which has historical merit, and the location is about as prime as you can get in New York. It’s a prize building, and I make almost daily visits to see how it’s progressing. I visit Laura Cordovano in the sales office, then check out the construction. They are taking too long, and the lobby doesn’t look up to my standards yet. They get an earful, and they deserve it. When my name is on something, it’d better be great. Could it be any simpler?

It’s funny, the reaction I get from people when I walk down the street and get recognized. Sometimes it’s a double take, sometimes there’s no acknowledgment, but often it’s a wave and a familiar and friendly Hi, Donald! from total strangers. It still takes me by surprise. Once I was stuck in a horrible traffic jam in my limousine, and I had a few members of Mark Burnett’s team with me, so I decided to try an experiment. It was one of those traffic jams where we hadn’t moved an inch in ten minutes, and tempers were red-hot, with taxi drivers yelling and everyone else as well, and every car seemed to have its horn on permanent full blast. I decided to step out of my limousine and just stand there in the middle of this chaos. The reaction? At first, dead silence. Then the fuming drivers and passengers started waving and shouting Donald! It’s The Donald! Hi, Donald! I had to laugh. At least we had some relief from the honking horns for a few minutes.

4:00 P.M. Back in my office. I make a call downstairs, as I’d noticed some of the lobby door handles weren’t as polished as I’d like them to be. I want my buildings to be impeccable, and the people who inhabit them appreciate that, even if I might seem a bit extreme at times.

I receive a letter from a U.S. serviceman overseas, Terry Simmons. His morale-building idea for his unit is to receive an autographed photograph from me. I am very touched by this request, and we send it off right away. These men and women are putting their lives on the line to protect something I cherish, which is this country. One of the great moments of my life was being honored, along with General John M. Keane, by the USO in 2002. In my speech I mentioned that accepting this honor put me in the finest company imaginable, because every member of the United States armed forces was being honored alongside me. I meant it then, and I still mean it today. We send our best to Terry Simmons.

4:30 P.M. Giuseppe Cipriani, who has one of the best restaurants in New York, calls. As someone who goes out to dinner a lot, I have very particular tastes, and Giuseppe is someone who will never let you down. I am trying to get him into my Park Avenue building.

The mysterious Jeffrey calls in. As mysterious as Jeffrey is, he’s one of the few people I know who can get by on just a first name. My staff never asks for a last name in his case, which in a way puts him up there with Elvis. Not that Elvis calls in much these days, but you never know. That’s why I have a floor for security. Sometimes we need it. We’ve had some calls you wouldn’t believe.

Norma comes in to tell me she’s had it with The Apprentice TV crew looking like ragamuffins and that if they show up tomorrow in their usual gear she’s going to send them back to their hotel to dress properly for a change. She means business and I know it, so I try to explain that they’re from California and working on a TV-show set, not in our corporate office, but she’ll have none of it. I think they’re in for it, and I don’t envy them.

I call Vinnie Stellio, a longtime employee whose wife has just had a baby boy. Vinnie could’ve been a movie star with his looks and swagger, but, fortunately, he works for us. He also could’ve written his own scripts, but he’s busy enough as it is.

5:00 P.M. I call Arnold Schwarzenegger to congratulate him on his recent decision to run for governor of California. I’ve also received several media calls asking me for my opinion on his decision. I’ve always liked Arnold, and I think he’ll make a great governor, not just because I like him but because he’s got the smarts and energy to run a state like California.

I read an article by a journalist who spent a day with me a few months ago. I remember him saying that he felt one day wouldn’t be sufficient, and I remember telling him that most people felt that one day with me was enough. At the end of the article, he admits I was right—that one day with me was enough—he was completely exhausted. It’s funny, because to me it seemed like a more relaxing and low-key day than I usually have, and I was certainly on my best behavior. Anyway, it’s nice to be right.