Donald Trump hard work, innate ability in deal making, and (whisper it) through inheriting his father's hugely successful business. Along the way he's picked up a few skills, many of which appear in the book on negotiation he co-wrote in 1987 called The Art Of The Deal.
Part memoir, part business manual, it offers rich insight into the man's psyche and ambition. It's heavy on bloviating narcissism, but paints a vivid picture of Trump's style of business. Some poor staffer in Hillary Clinton's campaign team will have been forced to sit down and read it, but we've saved you the bother with this condensed guide to how Trump operates. This is the Trump strategy for winning the US presidency.
Shoot for the moon
Trump believes that even someone of limited talent and intelligence can - if they have the balls - win big. His example of this is a meeting in which President Jimmy Carter comes to hit him up for a $5 million donation to his presidential library. He says, "as poorly qualified as he was for the job, Jimmy Carter had the nerve, the guts, the balls, to ask for something extraordinary.
That ability above all helped him get elected president." Trump knows that if you don't ask, you don't get. Elsewhere in the book he expresses his admiration for Woody Allen whose joke "80 per cent of success is showing up" encapsulates the Trump attitude. If you have the cajones to run for the Presidency, you might just get it.
Talent for the job is secondary, it's demanding the job that gets you there.
Be relentless
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Trump isn't a natural quitter. The Art Of The Deal is a story of patience, ambition, and the relentless pursuit of victory. It isn't enough just to want to win, you have to push for it. He says, "my style of deal-making is quite simple and straightforward. I aim very high, and then I just keep pushing and pushing and pushing to get what I'm after." It's this hard-headed ambition that saw Trump raise his hand during the first Republican debate to express his willingness to stand as a third-party candidate. Trump writes of always negotiating from a position of power: by expressing that determination to run whether with the backing of the Republicans or not, he's showing both that relentless drive to push for what he wants, and also negotiating from the confident position of someone who doesn't necessarily need the party's endorsement to run.
Trust your gut
Trump's approach to analysis has always been instinctive. He slams consultants in his book, and given the myriad ways in which pundits and pollsters have been wrong in recent times, there might be a little method to that madness. Whether it works or not, Trump isn't as classically data-driven as many of his rivals in business: "I don't hire a lot of number crunchers, and I don't trust fancy marketing surveys. I do my own surveys and draw my own conclusions."
Stand your ground
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Trump encounters many colourful crooks during his time in business, not least of all "Irving", a con artist he hires to manage one of his first investments. Trump watches Irving stand up against a much larger tenant who wants to beat him senseless for making approaches on his wife. Irving impresses Trump with his barefaced bravado, threatening to "burn the grass" with the man outside if he really wants to fight him: "You can't be scared. You do your thing, you hold your ground, you stand up tall, and whatever happens, happens." Trump knows how best to take a beating in the press, and will weather hostility. He knows that it's during those moments of intensity that people are judged, and if he can just stay in there, he might come out of it on top.
Court attention
Trump knows the enormous power of free media as a property developer. He talks up projects and gets the press to write for nothing what would've cost him huge sums to pay for in advertising.
His ability to transfer this talent to the political arena has been admirable. Trump sucks up the free media coverage because he behaves outrageously, tackily, and bizarrely. Don't kid yourself though, he knows exactly how to do it. He describes the press: "always hungry for a good story, and the more sensational the better. It's in the nature of the job, and I understand that. The point is that if you are a little different, or a little outrageous, or if you do things that are bold or controversial, the press is going to write about you."
Promise Big
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Trump's campaign slogan "Make America Great Again" is another example of his dealmaking ability. Trump is selling ambition, and selling a dream. It's clear from his book that he studied the approach of politicians like Reagan and applied what he took from their campaigns to business. Trump employs the same key ingredient that Obama applied in his "Hope" campaign, the power of a dream: "I play to people's fantasies. People may not always think big themselves, but they can still get very excited to those who do.
That's why a little hyperbole never hurts. People want to believe that something is the biggest and the greatest and the most spectacular. I call it truthful hyperbole. It's an innocent form of exaggeration -and a very effective form of promotion."
Don't be too slick
Donald Trump's ludicrous hair has long been a mystery, but perhaps the secret lies in his view of human psychology. During his lifetime Trump has fought a fair few court battles, and watched many lawyers ply their trade before juries and judges. He praises one particular lawyer, Harvey, but goes on to express one doubt about him before a jury. He says, "I've wondered whether Harvey was a little too sharp", referring to Harvey's slick demeanour. Trump worries that people won't buy something from someone who appears a little too polished. It may be that Trump believes that his preposterous hair is actually a way to make him seem less sharp and more appealing.
Be a little wild
Trump has said some outrageous things in this campaign, but he's only employing the lesson learned when he abused a bank manager for foreclosing on the house of a widow whose husband had shot himself in the head. Trump read about the case, wanted to help, and so threatened to sue the bank for the man's murder. It was a bizarre and eccentric move, but it worked: "Sometimes it pays to be a little wild" Trump notes. Next time he offends someone, bear in mind that Trump may be acting in a far more calculated fashion than it appears. He knows that most people won't go to the lengths he will, and uses that to his advantage.
Photography by Rex Features
Trump seems like a buffoon most of the time, but he's leading the Republican field in the polls because he knows how to apply skills picked up in business to a political campaign. Trump is a salesman. He's been selling for decades in a much fiercer and more demanding environment. Trump may play the clown, but there's a mind at work behind the painted face. For decades Trump has studied salesmanship and negotiation. He will fight this contest, he will introduce fireworks and overblown rhetoric, because he believes that with enough confidence, nerve and guts, he might just win himself a new piece of real estate at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
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