Page 197 - Midas Touch

One surprise people get when they visit my office is to hear me on the
phone negotiating the price of sinks, chairs, lamps, mirrors, chandeliers,
and so forth. I know all the prices, the vendors, and the ins and outs of
making deals with them. At the moment, I have approximately 20 mirrors

in and around my office as I’m deciding which ones will be best at one of
my golf courses. On other days, you might come in to see a variety of
chairs on display, or even sinks. I’m very particular about fixtures and
want to get a feel for them, along with their pricing and how they look.

My controller, Jeffrey McConney, learned a big lesson early in his career
with The Trump Organization. He’d been with me for about six or eight
months, and each week he would come in and give me a cash snapshot of

how things were going. One week he came in and told me we were down a
substantial amount from the week before. Then the phone rang, and I
picked it up. During the conversation, I looked up and told Jeff, “You’re
fired.” I hired him back a few minutes later, but the point was made. It was
a wake-up call. It’s my money, and his job is to protect it. He’s now been
with me for over 25 years.

Inside The Apprentice

People might think I just show up each week at the boardroom or at the
locations used in The Apprentice and The Celebrity Apprentice. There’s a
lot of detail work for each episode and I am definitely a part of the process

—from casting, to locations, to task assignments, and so forth. The
preparation for each season is complex and involves a lot of coordination
between the producers and me. I oversee everything—from the opening to
marketing, to the cast list, to audition tapes. Months of pre-production and
casting are involved. Production comes in two months before the shoot
begins. Post-production continues until the last episode airs.

There are some dramas to be considered, usually centering around the

boardroom. Once we had an emergency call at 6:00 a.m. when a cast
member had been caught cheating. Sometimes the boardroom goes on for
five hours, but it’s edited down for the episode. Once I showed up in black
tie for the boardroom because I had to attend a formal event immediately
afterwards. I’ve learned to multi-task over the years, fitting in business
meetings between takes for the show. Since we do a lot of shooting in
Trump Tower, I can readily get to and from my office. Sometimes the