Trump: How to Get Rich

The Art of the Hair

Over the years, I have been criticized for the way I comb my hair, but never so much as since the opening show of The Apprentice. New York magazine wrote that I’d perfected the pompad-over. The New York Times called it an elaborate structure best left to an architecture critic.

David Letterman and Jay Leno regularly do quips about it. Matt Lauer, who with Katie Couric has taken the Today show to new heights, told me I should just give up the ghost and shave it off or give myself some kind of buzz cut like the one he has. Likewise, Pat O’Brien, the star of Access Hollywood, told me he had heard about Matt Lauer’s comment and totally agrees with him.

Personally, I think it looks good, but I’ve never said my hair was my strongest point. I told Pat and Matt that I’m just not ready to change my style. I’ve been combing it this way for a long time and I might as well keep doing it. The ratings of The Apprentice are sky-high, and maybe they would drop if I changed the look at this point.

I’m amazed by how often people ask me whether or not I wear a hairpiece, a wig, or a rug, as it is affectionately known.

The answer, for the record, is emphatically and categorically no: I do not wear a rug. My hair is one hundred percent mine. No animals have been harmed in the creation of my hairstyle.

However, I must admit that the day may come when I will wear a hairpiece, wig, or rug—but only if I go bald, which I hope never happens. The reason for this is because I, like most men, am very vain. Many times over the years, I’ve heard people say that men are vainer than women, and I believe it. Guys don’t like to talk about it, but Random House is paying me a fortune for this book and specifically requested a chapter on the art of the hair, so I will admit to my vanity.

I will also reveal some of my hair-related secrets.

The reason my hair looks so neat all the time is because I don’t have to deal with the elements very often. I live in the building where I work. I take an elevator from my bedroom to my office. The rest of the time, I’m either in my stretch limousine, my private jet, my helicopter, or my private club in Palm Beach, Florida. If Matt Lauer had my lifestyle, he might not have changed his hairstyle—although his hair looks great now.

If I happen to be outside, I’m probably on one of my golf courses, where I protect my hair from overexposure by wearing a golf hat. It’s also a way to avoid the paparazzi. Plus the hat always has a big TRUMP logo on it—it’s an automatic promotion.

I will also admit that I color my hair. Somehow, the color never looks great, but what the hell, I just don’t like gray hair.

I wonder how much longer my hair will be a national topic of conversation. Letterman and Leno have been funny, but one person I don’t like is Joy Behar, a woman who works for Barbara Walters on The View. For weeks, she was attacking me, insisting that I wear a wig, so Barbara and her staff called me and asked if I would surprise them and appear on the show. I did, and when I ran my hand through my hair and proved that it was real, everybody laughed and that was the end of that.

After The Apprentice premiered, Joy Behar was on The Tonight Show along with the rest of the cast of The View. Out of the blue, Jay Leno started talking about the great success of The Apprentice. Star Jones raved about it, as did the others—except for Joy Behar, a woman with no talent and a terrible accent, who again attacked my hair. I’ve always said that show would do better without her. I did her a favor by going on the show, and it was not appreciated. Being nice to some people never pays off.

I suppose it’s possible that I could rethink my look for the second season of The Apprentice. But probably not—it seems to be working!