Sherman Cohen, a tough negotiator in the Manhattan properties market, expressed interest and Ifshin set up a meeting in Trump’s office. Before taking a seat at Trump’s conference table, Cohen lit up a...
Despite his doubts, Fred came through, pledging his own equity toward his son’s success—an early sign that although the father himself had no interest in taking on Manhattan, he would stand by his son...
After his transfer, Trump was put in charge of a special drill team for New York City’s Columbus Day parade. In white gloves and dressed in full uniform, Trump led the procession south along Fifth Ave...
People were always asking him who the real Donald Trump was—was the bombastic, boastful billionaire he played in the media merely a character designed to enhance his business? They didn’t get it, he i...
In the years after Trump graduated, Wharton became synonymous with financial success. Many of its graduates grew rich, and Penn’s endowment soared. Alumni gave generously, their names emblazoned all o...
He had lost patience with his father’s strategy of catering to lower- and middle-income residents of Brooklyn and Queens, and what was required to manage them. When he found tenants throwing trash out...
Despite his affluence, Donald’s tastes were often plebeian. In the waning months of the Eisenhower administration, in a culture defined by conformity, Donald used the record player in his dorm room mo...
But Friedrich’s departure ran afoul of German law. A three-year stint of military service was mandatory, and to emigrate, boys of conscription age had to get permission. The young barber didn’t do so,...
Trump had asserted to the Times that he was worth more than $200 million, even though a year earlier, Penn Central negotiators had estimated the Trump family holdings at about $25 million, all of it u...
Though he would later become known for the catchphrase You’re fired, Trump usually felt uneasy getting rid of an employee. If it had to be done, he would rather delegate the task to an underling. We a...
The work was done by hundreds of undocumented Polish immigrants known as the Polish brigade. The men toiled through spring and summer of 1980 with sledgehammers and blowtorches, but without hard hats,...
Physical brutality and verbal abuse were tolerated, even encouraged. Hazing was a part of freshman life, with upperclassmen pummeling new cadets with broom handles or forcing them to stand fully dress...
Freddy left the business and went to work as a pilot with Trans World Airlines. At age twenty-three, he married a stewardess, and the couple had two children, Fred and Mary. Freddy seemed far happier...
Dobias taught his players the line famously attributed to legendary Green Bay Packers head coach Vince Lombardi: I taught them that winning wasn’t everything, it was the only thing, Dobias said. Donal...
Trump had this urge to be a really big name, so he cultivated celebrity. But his lifestyle was surprisingly unglamorous. He’s quite disciplined in some ways. Doesn’t smoke, doesn’t drink, lives above...
Trump explained how the government had just filed suit, saying we discriminated against blacks in some of our housing developments. Trump said he didn’t discriminate, and he didn’t want the government...
Sometimes Trump eschewed the company letterhead and just annotated a copy of the offending piece of journalism and sent it to the author. When Times columnist Gail Collins called Trump a financially e...
Separately, Trump said, I’m the least racist person that you’ve ever interviewed.)
Presposterous, Ifshin thought. There’s always a negotiation. And then it dawned on Ifshin that he had been used. Donald, he said, this was your way of getting an informal appraisal, to see if someone...
Many rich men don’t allow their wives to come to their office. Many women don’t know what their husbands do.