Read this book when it first came out because a friend read it, said it was good, and gave it to me. It was better than good.

Everyone compares Trump to Hitler. I've read Mein Kampft and this book is nothing like it. What gives?

if you ask, you just might get it

Very little wisdom, a whole lot of self-serving platitudes; I had very low expectations of this book but they weren't low enough. Trump once said at a GOP Debate about the Obama administration, "they clearly didn't read 'The Art of the Deal.'" Not sure how superficial first-hand and self-flattering accounts of a few deals in New York and Atlantic City would have any baring on the Iran Nuclear deal, but in Trump's universe it's all the same.

Two useful insights about Trump from this book:

1 - Trump worships himself and believes he is incapable of poor decision making in any capacity. He never talks about mistakes or instances of bad judgment, only of collateral damage or the incompetency or bad intentions of people around him. This total lack of humility would make him unbelievably dangerous person to give political power.

2 - iI's clear that Trump has no real beliefs, just bargaining positions. He says what will accomplish whatever goal he has and therefore pretty much all means are justified by ends. I couldn't be more confident that he has no intention to deport 11 million people if elected President, and he does not care what damage his message does, so long as it can be used as leverage for his own goals, which may be totally disconnected from his stated goals.

In short, this book unintentionally offers some valuable insights into the Donald, however it is still was a general waste of time; one of the worst non-fictions I have ever chosen to pick up.

I thought that this book was good

“I put lipstick on a pig. I feel a deep sense of remorse that I contributed to presenting Trump in a way that brought him wider attention and made him more appealing than he is.” -- Tony Schwartz

This book was not what I was expecting at all, but now I can see why it is considered a classic. It is surprisingly accessible for a book about how to make successful business deals. It contains a lot of wisdom that can be applied to life in general, about how to treat others and also about marketing yourself and your skills.

The book documents various deals Trump is interested in during one week in his life. He discusses each project in depth and concludes with a summary of which deals were successful, which ones were not, which ones he had to rework and so on.

His dealings with the New York city planning council and the mayor were particularly amusing. Anyone who has any knowledge of Trump already knows that he is a straight talker and isn't afraid to tell the truth about people or situations as he sees it. The same applies here, but it is written with a great sense of humour. This is Trump in his 40's, debonair and confident.

Very enjoyable and well worth the read!

The art of the deal is about management, leadership mentality. It’s a kind of biography presenting the life of Donald Trump until the ’90s – way before he thought about the American presidency. If you’ve ever tried to figure out how were people making money in the United States, you will find out that the real estate market was a great place to do that. Then, sooner or later, Donald Trump’s name comes up inevitably because he did many great deals and he, eventually, made a lot of money.

Now, this is not a political message, don’t interpret it like that and be rational. You can like the man or be totally opposite, that’s not the point here. Nevertheless, I have to say that this is a brilliant book. If you’ve ever wondered how does someone at that level of working with hundreds of millions of dollars operate and make deals or what kind of deals they make? How were those deals structured and what was his thinking behind this decision-process, this is the book for you as Donald Trump reveals all of this. Simply saying, he walks you through a few of his transactions and presents the people and his strategy behind these deals. Most importantly he keeps the story really interesting.

Anyway, Donald Trump comes from a real estate family. His father, Fred Trump, was a renowned real estate developer on the outskirts of New York. He became a wealthy business person for building row properties in South Brooklyn. This way Donald Trump was already introduced into the real estate market as a child and when he came of age he decided to pursue a career in the real estate business. On the other hand, he didn’t want to stay in some niche and had his eyes set on Manhattan, the property capital of the world. However, the book doesn’t concentrate only on New York. You will find other deals in Atlanta and other cities where he was developing his other projects.

There are a few key points from the book which I’d like to mention below. Treat them as principles followed by Trump in his business and political (my assumption) career:

1. Think big, be obsessive and driven
2. Protect the downside and the upside will take care of itself which means to be very conservative in business. It’s better to pay a higher price for a sure thing rather than putting your business at risk
3. Maximise your options – be flexible and never be attached to one option, deal or approach. Keep as many options open as possible. Furthermore, if you took one way still hold other options at hand in order to deliver your goal
4. Know your market – don’t waste too much money on market research and surveys. Get there on your own and talk to real people until you know the market by instinct. Next, trust your gut feeling. Honestly, I’m not so sure about this point. Maybe in the ’80s market surveys weren’t so reliable, nowadays when we have AI, big data etc. I would rather go for it
5. Enhance your location – this rule is specific to the property business. Keep your property spotless and tidy and keep an eye on their surrounding as it’s one of the major price factors... (if you like to read my full review please visit my blog https://leadersarereaders.blog/the-ar...)

I have read a number of books about geniuses in various areas of life. (Nikoli Tesla, Steve Jobs, Einstein, Robert Moses, and others.)

I truly believe, when it comes to dealing making, Trump is a genius. This book was written in the 1980s and describes his ability to think about things, when doing deals, that other people do not think about.

I'm sure what this book covers, is only the beginning and a small part of his accomplishments.

I believe all citizens of the United States should read this book in order to get a better understanding of the person who will be our next president.

Donald Trump published this book late in 1987, but I had heard that if you want to know how he thinks, this was the book to read - especially relevant now when he is running for President. He may very well have written it (along with Tony Schwartz who apparently was his ghostwriter) in order to promote himself and his business interests, but regardless, it's a fascinating story - how he built up his real estate and business empire in the 1970's and '80's. He comes across as a no-nonsense kind of guy who is in control and gets things done. Not bad qualities to have in a national leader.

A fascinating historical snapshot of, and firsthand insight into, the mindset and personality of Donald J. Trump 30 years ago. Long before he was even a serious prospective presidential candidate, let alone the actual POTUS. Long before his friendship, and later enmity, with the Clintons. Long before "The Apprentice." And most notably, long before all these wild and paranoid accusations of The Donald being a "racist," "sexist," "fascist," "misogynist," yadda yadda, blah blah blah, ad nauseam.

Trump supporters, you'll love this book.
Trump bashers, I dare y'all to read this with an open mind.

RANDOM STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS AND NOTEWORTHY/QUOTEWORTHY PASSAGES (pages #s from the Nook Edition):

--p. 14: The Annanel Hill story, an incredible act of kindness and charity by both Mr. Trump and Don Imus that the present day MSM would choose to ignore.

--p. 16: Mar-a-Lago!!

--p. 17: Wow, Ivanka at age 6 and Eric at age 3!

--p. 24: "The way I see it, critics get to say what they want about my work, so why shouldn't I be able to say what I want to about theirs?" Amen! Turnabout is fair play!

--p. 33: So, Cardinal O'Connor was "a businessman with great political instincts," eh? What a refreshing contrast to the anti-business, liberation theologist sentiments of the current Pope.

--p. 49: "Have Fun." Gee, what a concept!

--p. 51: "Most of his co-workers were happy just to have a job. My father not only wanted to work, he also wanted to do well and to get ahead."

--p. 52: "We lived in a large house, but we never thought of ourselves as rich kids. We were brought up to know the value of a dollar and to appreciate the importance of hard work."

--58: Damn, actually considered USC Film School!!

"Perhaps the most important thing I learned at Wharton was not to be overly impressed by academic credentials." Tell that to my Dad (R.I.P.).

--p. 60: Mother was Scottish by birth, och aye lass!

--p. 81: I discovered, for the first time but not the last, that politicians don't care too much about what things cost. It's not their money."

--p. 120: "And yet it's turned out that I've hired a lot of women for top jobs, and they've been among my best people. Often, in fact, they are far more effective than the men around them." Roll that in your pipe and smoke it, gender-baiting Pussy Hat-wearers!

--p. 127: Francois Mitterand a "socialist" who "was going to hurt the French economy" and "turned out to be a dangerous man....selling nuclear technology to the highest bidder. It's the lowest anyone can stoop."

--p. 134: "I feel strongly about supporting veterans and was proud to help underwrite both the parade and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial constructed in downtown Manhattan."

--p. 141: "The worst of times often create the best opportunity to make good deals."

--p. 145: "In most large public corporations, getting an answer to a question requires going through seven layers of executives, most of whom are superfluous in the first place."

--p. 163: "Lucky Sperm Club," haha!

--p. 164: Manny Hanny!

--p. 172: "But then, 'modest' isn't my favorite word."

--p. 178: "If there's one thing I've learned about the rich, it's that they have a very low threshold for even the mildest discomfort."

--p. 192: "but I like consultants even less than I like committees."

--p. 193: "You can probably guess how much stock I put in polls." Haha, prescient!

--p. 206: "....take a 9 to 5 job. That's the last thing most politicians want to do." Haha, ZING!!

Ed Koch "a bully." Another ZING!!

--p. 232: Portraying Koch as even worse than King Daley, oh snap!!

--p. 243: "I don't go out of my way to be cordial to enemies." Haha, that's an understatement!

--p. 247: "It's easy to be generous when you've got a lot, and anyone who does, should be."

Доналд Тръмп е практически президент на света. На пръв поглед, той си има доста проблеми не само с медиите и опозицията, но и със своите съпартийци и собствената си държавна администрация, които изглежда всячески се стремят да му попречат да свърши каквото и да е. Той сменя както мнението си по ключови въпроси от вътрешната и външната политика, така и хората на ключови позиции като носни кърпички и изглежда, че не може да намери верните хора и вярната посока.

Това, което остава скрито е, че през целия си живот той работи по такъв начин, а никак не може да се каже, че тоя му живот е бил неуспешен (все пак, станал е президент на света ;) ).

Тръмп: изкуството на сделката описва някои ключови сделки, по които е работил в кариерата си (книгата е написана през 1987г.) и начинът му на мислене и работа. Там може да се види, че той сменя ръководителите на проекти много често, преди да намери правилния за него човек и изобщо не вижда нищо нередно в това.

Също така, объркване и дезинформация на другата страна са обичайни методи за сключване на сделки, които той използва и затова изглежда, че "си мени мнението", "изпуска се" пред медиите с информация и т.н., докато всъщност това са тактики за поставяне на опонентите му в по-изгодна за него позиция.

Дали методите му ще дадат резултат на административната сцена (видя се, че на политическата дават) и дали той ще успее да изпълни някаква значителна част от предизборните си обещания предстои да видим.