Shapiro - Trump this! : the life and times of Donald Trump : an unauthorized biography

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Digital ISBN: 978-1-62601-263-9

Print: ISBN: 978-1-62601-264-6

First Edition February 2016

All the people who keep me honest and human with their love, understanding and encouragement. There isnt a whole lot to say that hasnt already been said a thousand times before.

My wife Nancy. My daughter Rachael. My granddaughter Lily. Brent, Robert and Layla. My agent Lori Perkins. Brady. Fitch (RIP).

All the real people who do the dirty jobs and truly deserve the credit. The creatives who often work their magic in the shadows. Good books. Good music. Good art.

And finally kudos to Donald Trump. He took the risk to put himself out there in a very big way. How many of us can say weve done the same?

How to Make a Trump

When approaching the life and times of Donald Trump, especially when youre a voter who might be thinking of nominating The Donald for the Republican candidate for President of the United States, (or an author trying to tell the tale) there is a lot to consider.

First theres the obvious. He knows business. Names like The Trump Tower, the Trump Plaza and Casino, and The Plaza Hotel roll off the tongue like butter. His string of successful hotels and golf courses are considerable and majestic. Even his time in the casino business and his days involved in less than successful ventures, such as Trump Wine and the Trump Board Game are stories well worth telling.

Then theres the idea of Trump the celebrity, The Apprentice host who, singlehandedly introduced the phrase youre fired! into the daily nomenclature of our lives. The egotistical, arrogant comic book hero as flesh and blood upper class cock of the walk who is quick to insult, downgrade and basically verbally vaporize anybody strong enough or, for that matter, brave enough to cross swords and intimate that Donald Trump does not know everything about everything.

Because in his mind Donald Trump, physically and mentally, is sure that he does, indeed, know everything about everything.

Okay, thats pretty much Trump 101. The press and the political pundits have dissected and pontificated on The Donald with a fine-toothed comb for years. What they have come up with is no less worthy and significant, especially to those who have jumped on The Trump for President bandwagon in the last year. They want to know it all.

But does the public really want to know it all or are they just glomming onto what theyre being fed and letting the rest go as insignificant or unnecessary to their often rabid following of The Donald? Those were some of the things I had to consider when looking for an angle for yet another Donald Trump tome.

Because there have been a lot of them. Some have been flattering to a fault (written by Trump himself or, more likely, with the aid of a smitten ghostwriter), others have been even-handed serious looks (courtesy of a seasoned journalist) and still others have been complete and blatant slams.

And of course there is that old devil bias to throw into the mix. Since so many books on political figures (and just about anybody else with name recognition for that matter) have been written with a personal agenda, attitude or bias in play, its a legitimate question to ask if I have a beef with The Donald or am on the take in any way. The answer is no, no, a thousand times no. I have been thoroughly vetted by my publisher and deemed above board to write this book. But for those of you who dont believe anything or anybody (and yes I know youre out there), heres the abridged version of Marc Shapiro for Dummies.

I am a registered Democrat. I make no bones about it. But I have also been raised with an enquiring mind that is open to all possibilities. My parents were registered Democrats but they saw enough in Eisenhower to vote for him twice. I learned from my parents. When in doubt, go with your gut and the person you see as the best man for the job. I have not made a decision on Donald Trump yet. Where Im at with this book is just the facts, maam and let the chips fall where they may.

Which is ultimately the saner way to go with a subject who, in his personal and professional life, has been known to be slicker than Mercury and just as hard to handle.

Realistically, there have been many books and many attempts to dissect and figure out Donald Trump, many of which were written by Trump himself. In the hands of authors trying to make sense of this often Messianic creation, the emphasis seemed to be on the controversy, the alleged questionable and shady business dealings, and his failed marriages and relationships. You know, the kinds of things publishers feel, and rightly so, a book must contain at least a smidgen of to sell in this pop culture crazy, TMZ world. So ultimately what would make this book different?

The answer? How about keeping it simple?

We all have a good idea of what Donald Trump is. Let's give him the benefit of the doubt for a minute. Let's say he's some kind of a viable candidate, a bit unorthodox but still somebody who wants to do right by us. But he might more likely be a shill, a brand name in human form. Somebody with a bottom line for a soul and a bar code for a heart. Some think of him as some kind of God. Others think of him as a thing with horns and a long tail. But we're not casting aspersions here. What he is is ultimately up to you.

So how about a book chronicling the life that has molded, influenced and ultimately driven the larger-than-life character out into the world? There would be some easy, and not so easy, choices in his life. His parents for openers.

For better or worse we all had them and, lets be honest, a lot of who we are boils down to the attitudes of the people who raised us. Interaction with others kids down the street and in school, teachers, girlfriends and wives. Its fun to speculate about what impact a young Candice Bergen turning down Trumps advances in college might have had on her suitors already notorious ego. And just what drove a very young Trump to assault a teacher, which subsequently resulted in his parents shipping him off to military school, would seem an ideal talking point.

A different mindset was definitely involved in doing this book. A big consideration was that Trump, well below the surface, is a lot of things people would not expect from somebody with such a loudmouthed, bullying veneer. One could take nothing as truth or fiction without crosschecking until your eyes crossed. There was also the idea of being straight up, down the middle fair in telling his story. If somebody slammed Donald Trump, then the first thing I did was look for somebody who thought he was a Prince of a guy. And it went without saying that if Trump, in a manner of speaking, beat the rap on a personal or professional matter, it was duly noted. Did I ever have a moment where I wanted to punch his face, call him a no good bullshit artist or, on the other hand, shake his hand? Sure did. But thats when a bit of psychology kicked in. Because Trump is not alone with his attitude and attributes. Hes worked hard for his money, even though he has occasionally bent the rules a little bit and, in the name of fairness and, more importantly, good journalism, everybody deserves to know his yin and yang.