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S ELL Y OURSELF L IKE T RUMP

economic environment and the huge cast of characters who would
have to embrace a set of entirely new concepts for the idea to work.
Trump would have to win major financial concessions from:

1. Penn Central, a bankrupt railroad that owned the land on which
the Commodore Hotel was built;
2. New York City, which was facing bankruptcy;
3. The State of New York, which had no money to contribute to any
venture;
4. A lender who was holding many defaulted loans on New York real
estate;
5. A major hotel chain that was not pursuing new facilities in New
York City since tourism and occupancy rates were extremely low;
and
6. Existing tenants occupying the building.

The deal involved successful negotiation of several treacherous in-
terconnected transactions. If Trump failed to conclude any one of
these transactions, it would sink the entire project. Using the five
personal qualities outlined in this chapter he had to:

1. Obtain an option to buy the Commodore Hotel from the Penn
Central Railroad for $12 million dollars;
2. Convince the representatives of Penn Central Railroad to turn
over the $12 million purchase price to New York City, which was
owed $15 million in back taxes from the Penn Central;
3. Convince New York City to accept the $12 million to cover $15
million in back taxes and agree to the creation of a long-term
lease that would give the city a share of profits in lieu of future
real estate taxes;
4. Convince the Urban Development Corporation, a New York State
Agency, to accept title to the property, then grant a long-term

5