Waking up with the Don

Photo: Reuters

Donald and Melania Trump.

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IT HAD been a restless night. When you have the 450th richest man in the world ringing you at 6.50am you want to be sure everything is good to go.

That the phone is working, that the recording device is plugged into the phone, that your questions are to hand and your alarm is set. OK, so he's not as rich as Oprah (234th) or Spielberg (205th) and he's forced to share his ranking on the Forbes' list with 17 others (including Jim Davis and Family of the United States, Friede Springer of Germany and Hui Wing Mau of Hong Kong). But Donald Trump, property developer, reality TV luminary and Miss Universe owner, is still the big time.

He's written a tonne of books (Think Like a Billionaire, Think Big, Think Like a Champion), he's diversified into vitamins, aftershave (Donald Trump The Fragrance), suits ("The Donald J Trump Signature Collection provides the necessities to be boardroom-ready all of the time"), and meat (Trump Steaks).

As it turns out, Trump, or rather his assistant, rang an hour early, on the wrong line. "I'm sorry," he said. "Sorry to have woken you up."

"This is going to be a terrible story," he said. "Based on that, if I was you, I would write a horrible story about Trump."

He was so smooth, that was the surprising thing. Almost as smooth as that great gingery tsunami of hair that sweeps hungrily across his head.

Calling to discuss the New Zealand Lotteries Commission Big Wednesday prize he has put his name to, Trump was urbane. He was generous with charm and quite happy to talk about all the fun had at the expense of his hairdo. "They certainly go crazy about my hairstyle. It used to bother me a lot. When I was younger it would drive me crazy. It is my hair. You know, as I grow older it bothers me less and less. And I have more and more people... they don't have any hair, now that they're my age. They don't have hair so they're not too quick to talk."

The only time the star of the original The Apprentice, the television franchise in which the young and hungry compete for a job running one of his companies, loses his stride is when asked if the name Terry Serepisos (his counterpart on the Kiwi version of the show) means anything to him. He stumbles, he fumbles.

He pretends he didn't hear the question. Admittedly, with 80 versions of the show around the world, perhaps it wouldn't be practical to personally brief each and every one of his fellow firers. "We pick people from different countries that are very successful. That have certain personalities and they generally do very well. They don't do as well as I do, but these are minor details."

The 63-year-old is offering ordinary Kiwis the chance to live like him for a week. He owns more than a million square metres of prime Manhattan real estate, hotels, casinos and golf courses across America and has sold his name to gold and glittering towers everywhere from Seoul to Dubai.

How would he describe the Trump lifestyle?

"I've done very well in business and I lead a certain lifestyle. Could I do without it? I guess the answer is yes. But I've had fun and you know I have nice weapons like airplanes and helicopters and things. So I have a good time with it, but is it necessary for me? Probably not. If I had to get used to going commercial, I think I'd do it very easily. But it has been fun."

Having fun is what Trump is all about. Yet for every multimillion-dollar deal he's sealed, there have been creditor-led bailouts, bankruptcies and court cases.

Trump on the global financial crisis: "My company today is stronger than it ever was before. We're buying a lot of different things. A lot of cash and we're buying a lot of different developments that are in trouble. And we're having a lot of fun."

He recently suggested Tiger Woods should forget about trying to fix his marriage and just concentrate on being a playboy. "Well, I did make those comments and my attitude is to go back to play golf, enjoy yourself. And, you know, go out with lots of different women and have a good time in life."

On to his third wife (Slovenian-born, ex-model Melania, 24 years his junior), evidently Trump isn't anti-marriage. "It's a great institution – if you meet the right person. If you're married to the wrong person, it's hell."

His best friends are, he says, his kids (he has two sons and a daughter by first wife Ivana, a daughter by second wife Marla, and a son with Melania) and his wife. In particular he names oldest daughter Ivanka, the sloe-eyed beauty who acts as his sidekick on The Apprentice. In the last few years eldest son Donald Jr has produced two grandsons. Trump on being a grandfather: "I like it. It's a very unusual word for me, but that's what I am."

He has no thoughts of stepping back, of handing the empire's reins to his three older kids who are all vice-president of this, executive of that in Trump Corp. His schedule is that of a man half his age. "I get up very early. I don't sleep a lot. So that's good. I have an advantage because I only need about three or four hours' sleep. I mean maybe it's not positive, who knows? But it seems to be what I get and what I need. I then come to the office and we all try and conquer the world."

How to Trump the Big One

Purchase a Big Wednesday ticket by Wednesday, March 17, to be in with a chance to win.

Every ticket gets an entry voucher into the draw to win a luxury trip to New York for four, including six nights in the Trump Soho NYC, $US10,000 (worth about $14,550) spending money each, new luggage, chauffeur-driven limousine and on-call co-ordinator for the duration of your stay, helicopter tour of New York, lunch at the Trump Grill, food allowance of $300 per day, private passes to the Trump National Golf Club Westchester, VIP table at a Broadway show, a session with a personal hairstylist, a personal shopper for a day, the opportunity to meet Donald Trump (subject to availability), plus $100,000 for the winner on their return.

- © Fairfax NZ News