Trump: How to Get Rich

Look Closely Before Changing Careers

In 2000, I thought about running for president of the United States as a third-party candidate. I proposed some sensible ideas: tax cuts for the middle class, tougher trade deals, a ban on unregulated soft money in campaigns, comprehensive health care reform. I formed an exploratory committee and met with Reform Party leaders, but in the end I realized I was enjoying my business too much to run for office.

Remember the rule I mentioned earlier about how you shouldn’t equivocate? That may work for business, but in politics, you usually have to watch your words. I’m too blunt to be a politician. Then, there’s my long-held aversion to shaking hands. (More on this in a moment.) Had I entered the race, I wouldn’t have been very popular. Even during the few months I was considering candidacy, I noticed that people began to treat me differently—in a more reserved, less friendly way. Before, I had been The Donald, someone they would wave and smile at. Suddenly, it was a different ball game, and it didn’t seem like much fun to me. One guy I had been friendly with for years saw me at Le Cirque and for the first time in my life called me Mr. Trump. He had always called me Donald. That was a real heads-up.

A lot of successful businesspeople think they can apply their management skills to politics, but I’ve noticed that only a select few, like Michael Bloomberg and Jon Corzine, succeed. Most others lack the temperament for it.

There’s a larger point here, beyond the obvious ones about not confusing your talent for office politics with a gift for electoral politics. Anyone with more than a little curiosity and ambition will at some point be tempted to try a different challenge on new terrain. Take the risk, but before you do, do everything you can to learn what you’re getting yourself into, and be as sure as you can that you’ve got the right mind-set for the job.