Donald Trump is fabulously wealthy, look at his palatial house in Westchester County, New York, or his apartment mansion in Manhattan.  Nothing less than the finest marble, chandeliers, brocades and fine laces, antique furniture, sumptuous chairs, everything elegant and in the finest taste, no expense spared. 

His father Fred was a housebuilder in Brooklyn, and by sheer hard work and smart investments, accumulated a portfolio of multi-storey buildings, renting or leasing the flats, purchasing more, investing more, to leave his son a portfolio worth over $40 million.  This, with smart investments, mostly in the real estate domain, has seen Mr Trump's fortune grow.  Forbes puts it at about $4 billion, others at double that;  at times, the valuation has been even much more.  Mr Trump is the author of some very interesting books, such as the Art of the Deal, which gives an insight.  He attended the Wharton School, so that tells you he went to a select business school and learned about finance.  He is also very creative, coming up with a board game similar to Monopoly, and also would you believe it a Donald doll, a miniature scale version of his 6'1" reach.  Of course, he has also bottled his famous water and champagne.  Some such ideas, if they work for you, could be good promotional sidelines for anybody with a recognizable name.  Mr Trump has had luck on his side : he bought a building for $1 million way back in the slump, today it is worth about $657 million.  Those who don't have a million today, must be feeling their eyes pop out at this!

He certainly can teach people how to make money.  The only qualities that are needed are that of following a good example, having the know-how, having the tenacity to put your projects under way, and making it grow - in this case, real estate, or houses and buildings as most of us call them.

At different times, in different geographical locations, some of his students will apply his techniques, and indeed become millionaires and billionaires.  They have in Calcutta and Mumbai and Dhaka, probably even in Fouzhou or Shanghai.  Some people use the name Trump on their buildings, in a promotional joint venture, signifying the quality associated with the name.

However, it is a truism that the real estate field is not for everybody.  I have seen some with a little seed capital become millionaires, as well as some with  small fortunes who didn't have the hots for the market or are still standing still.  It is down to understanding the principles, and tenacity in applying them, and of course it is a lot of hard work.

His son Eric, recounting that his father bought the two houses in Westchester when he was 13, recalls that he was helping Dad clear the leaves and chop the wood.  Sometimes Donald  spent 14 hours clearing up each day, to create the regal residence, with no expense spared.

I wonder why a man who has everything of his own, fine houses, even a fine plane with 24-carat gold seat belt fastners, who routinely travels by limousine, should wish to run for President?  He is President of his own organisation, and the Trump Towers speak of his wealth.  What will he do in the confines of Washington, restricted in exercising his natural powers?  Everything he knows needs to be done will be subject to scrutiny.  He is a King within his own organisation.  In the White House and the Oval Office, there will constraints on what he can actually do and get done.

The answer must be the prestige and the power.  I get the impression it is likely we will see a President Trump sometime in the future, if not this year (the Republican nomination seems a foregone conclusion at this stage, Mr Trump still needs a good few delegates to his tally before that). It is my impression his son Eric Trump would make a fine candidate, for the future; he appears a very level headed, charming personality. 

As for Donald Trump, he has started his campaign opening up a lot of controversial issues.  Although he made a very statesman-like Foreign Policy speech recently, and came across as a revisionist who will sensibly compromise and retract his utterances or come to agreeable deals (he is, after all, author of The Art of the Deal), it is questionable whether the world will buy that.

His students may become millionaires or fabulously wealthy like him, if they follow and apply his techniques. 

But if he were President, a lot of people would end up worse off.  In his proposed budget, he would be seeking to make 85percent cuts to public spending which he considers is wasteful.  It won't adversely affect the millionaires and billionaires, but it may affect the jobless, the retirees, and such-like. 

Some of Mr Trump's proposed policies may antagonise the outside world, and perhaps induce a recession at home.  No wonder when a Republican Presidency is in sight, very often the stockmarkets fall between July and October.  Let's wait and see what the markets tell us in a few months.

Kind regards,

Durudarshan

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