A Week in the Life: Trump's Fall 2003 Diary

Book: How to Get Rich
Author: Donald J. Trump (with Meredith McIver)
e-ISBN: 1-58836-410-0

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Mark Burnett told Trump his favorite chapter in The Art of the Deal was “a week in the life.” Readers agreed. Trump brings it back for fall 2003.

No direct money advice here. Just motion. And he admits he probably would not be this successful if he were not having this much fun.

Monday: buildings, beauty queens, and Burnett

9:00 AM with architect Costas Kondylis on Trump Place along the Hudson. Fifth and sixth buildings under construction decades after Trump first secured the West Side yards option in 1974. Don Jr. joins. They pick top-line fixtures. Quality is the brand.

Oscar de la Renta calls about Miss Universe winner Amelia Vega. Trump yells at cheating contractors. He takes Bloomberg’s call before Woody Allen’s office and his Atlantic City CEO.

Neal Cavuto’s crew films an interview. Seventeen calls come in during it. Trump returns Joe Cinque’s call about hospitality awards. Regis Philbin confirms dinner at Jean-Georges in Trump International. Mark Burnett calls about Apprentice details.

Development meeting on Chicago. Lunch from the Trump Tower atrium. He mentions the McDonald’s commercial. He does not like long lunches.

Allen Weisselberg, CFO for thirty years, runs a tight meeting. Forbes photo shoot. Dinner at Jean-Georges with Melania, Joy, and Regis.

Tuesday: Atlantic City, Giuliani, and Chicago plans

Five to seven newspapers every morning. Fifteen minutes assessing world news before the office opens.

Bob Wright at NBC. Police Athletic League reminder. Golf Friday with Alfons Schmidt, Bill Clinton, and Esquire editor David Granger at Briarcliff Manor.

Atlantic City board meeting with sandwiches from Carnegie Deli. Fifteen minutes for lunch. Thirty-seven screened calls waiting. Bob Kraft raves about a private Elton John concert.

Joe Torre drops by. Rudy Giuliani call. National Geographic films in Trump’s apartment. Mohamed Al Fayed from London. Melania reminds him they are seeing Chicago on Broadway with Melanie Griffith starring.

Walk to Trump Park Avenue. Lobby not up to standard. He yells. Traffic jam experiment: steps out of the limo, chaos turns to “Hi Donald!”

Arnold Schwarzenegger gets a congrats call on running for California governor. Norma is fed up with the Apprentice crew dressing like ragamuffins.

Wednesday: Apprentice sets and a nine-year-old partner

Tour of Apprentice living quarters on Trump Tower’s fourth floor. Ten thousand square feet. Producer Kevin Harris wears deconstructed jeans. They escape before Norma sees him.

Weekend business trips are normal. Last year: breakfast in London with Al Fayed, dinner in Slovenia with Melania’s parents, back in the office Monday 9 AM.

Oscar de la Renta fashion show with Melania. Trump Model Management update. Miss Universe call. Entertainment Channel Apprentice interview in five minutes.

Fires an underperformer gently: “I hired the wrong person.” Pizza lunch. Trip to Trump Place construction. Robin Leach interview. Carolyn Kepcher on golf club villas. Still signing autographs on his 1990 Playboy cover thirteen years later.

Eric visits from Georgetown. Dinner at the 21 Club.

Thursday: Barbara Walters, Sandra Bullock, and the hair ambush

Barbara Walters interview on the September 11 anniversary. Then a planned surprise on The View. They have been debating his hair and whether he will call back. He walks on set. Joy Behar is surprised. He lets her touch his hair. Audience shrieks.

Steve Wynn tours the Apprentice sets. Sandra Bullock drops into a meeting to say hi. Contractors cannot believe it.

Bank One meeting on the Trump Card. Aretha Franklin’s assistant calls. He thinks about labyrinths when his schedule feels insane.

Board meeting for a residential building. Formula: deliver the goods. Office walk-through. Reggie Jackson visit. Another Trump Park Avenue check.

Friday: contractors, chocolates, and golf

Electrical contractors get yelled at. He believes twenty percent of what contractors say on a good day. Ad against slot machines at racetracks features Al Capone.

Copy machine breaks. Trump loses his temper. Godiva chocolates go to staff. Mark Burnett meeting on contestant assignments. Apprehensions about the show have “evaporated.”

Afternoon golf with Clinton, Granger, and Alfons. Even on Friday he is working.

What this chapter actually shows

Three patterns repeat all week.

Volume. Hundreds of calls. Media from six countries. Every hour something new.

Standards. Door handles, lobbies, fixtures. If his name is on it, it must be great.

Momentum. He treats a stalled conversation like a blown hour. Seconds matter.

The diary is curated, obviously. But as a portrait of peak-era Trump energy right before The Apprentice launches, it lands.

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