Talk:Donald Trump

Wharton

How long did he go to the wharton school of business?

Portrait image

I have listed the portrait image for deletion on WP:IFD because of its terms of use. Dori | Talk 13:27, Jun 5, 2004 (UTC)

Ancestry

Somebody keeps putting up information that Trump's ancestors are from Baden-Baden Germany. This is from a German website "People from Baden Baden" (view this article's history, in particular http://en.wikipedia.org/w/wiki.phtml?title=Donald_Trump&oldid=3367622) that claims that Trump's grandfather (with the surname of Trumpf) came from Baden-Baden, and that Fred Trumpf changed the name to "Trump" to avoid anti-German sentiment. But page 66 of "Art of the Deal", written by Donald Trump, definitively says that his grandfather came from Sweden. Also, the Lehigh University information is also incorrect. (Wikipedia occasionally has people who will deliberately put in bogus information as a joke to see if people are gullible enough to swallow it).

I was the one who added the Lehigh connection, and it certainly wasn't a joke. I was relying on this profile from Selling Power magazine. If Trump describes his educational background in The Art of the Deal, I'd agree that it's a better source. (On some subjects I'd leave open the possibility that Trump was lying in his book, but he probably wouldn't lie about that.) Does the book discuss his academic career? JamesMLane 22:18, 5 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Art of the Deal does discuss his undergraduate career, on page 77 of the paperback edition. Lehigh University is never mentioned nor is it in the index. An excerpt (from pages 76-78):

After I graduated from the New York Military Academy in 1964 I flirted briefly with the idea of attending film school...But in the end I decided real estate was a much better business. I began by attending Fordham University...but after two years, I decided that as long as I had to be in college, I might as well test myself against the best. I applied to the Wharton School of Finance at the University of Pennsylvania and I got in...I was also very glad to get finished. I immediately moved back home and went to work full-time with my father.

Buy the book -- it's only $6 paperback (about the cost of a movie), and a good read. You'll find that he wasn't exactly born with a silver spoon in his mouth, and that following in the "family business" wasn't easy, especially for his older brother who became an airline pilot. It's all in the book.

-- Anonymous

I know in the past there's been some uncertainty on the article about whether he's of Swedish or German descent, but I think it's the latter, based on a NYT obit I cited in the article Fred Trump:

Frederick Christ (pronounced Krist) Trump was born in New York City in 1905. From World War II until the 1980's, Mr. Trump would tell friends and acquaintances that he was of Swedish origin, although both his parents were born in Germany. John Walter, his nephew and the family historian, explained, "He had a lot of Jewish tenants and it wasn't a good thing to be German in those days."

Everyking 08:24, 18 Jan 2005 (UTC)

According to the Donald Trump article at German Wikipedia, the Trump family was from Kallstadt (pop. 1162), a town in Rheinland-Pfalz, and not Baden-Baden as often falsely reported. I think this article could use a "Personal life" section. If one was created, I would be happy to translate pertinent information from the German Wikipedia article, which covers far more of Trump's pre-fame background. Gilliamjf 06:58, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

Background

I'm nixing this:

His mother, who has family on Lewis in the Western Isles, probably named him "Donald", which in Gaelic means "proud" or "world ruler". AStanhope

I'm glad to see it go. I was never bold enough to remove it myself. Everyking 02:01, 19 Mar 2005 (UTC)

The Donald would have encouraged decisive action on our part. AStanhope

Is this our new standard for editing? "What would Donald do?" :) JamesMLane 03:42, 19 Mar 2005 (UTC)

I think that it's a little much to call him a "staunch opponent" of the Iraq War. He expressed his opinion against it - it's not like he ran around speaking to rallies, funded anti-Bush candidates, etc.

Muddled sentence

I think the last sentence of the intro is a mess. Could someone who understands it rewrite it please? Thank you. Osomec 21:59, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)

as he is rarely afraid of defining the ways of a prolific American business executive, and thus became an example of one.

I'm not quite sure what the sentence means.. would "setting the standards" be better instead of "defining the ways"?

Improper citation

This article uses exact sentences without quotation from the New York Times article: <http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/23/business/yourmoney/23trump.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5090&en=f6a28aab39166801&ex=1287720000&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss>. At the bottom is a citation, but I don't believe usage of exact wordage is appropriate. Am I wrong here?

Ufohoaxer 04:49, 4 November 2005 (UTC)

Trump University Language

The wording in the section about Trump University seems extremely one-sided, and almost seems to be taken out of a brochure for TU. I would doubt its neutrality.

"In 2005, Donald Trump launched Trump University ([4]), a business education company that blends his knowledge and experience with world-class curriculum developed by leading academics and business experts. Trump University was founded on the principle of "learning by doing", and its offerings include online courses, multimedia home study programs, publications, Web seminars, and more. Trump is a firm believer in education, and many of his media ventures, like the The Apprentice and the books, have a strong educational element. Trump University grew out of his desire to impart the business knowledge he has accumulated over the years and from his realization that there is a huge demand for practical, convenient education that teaches success."

• Agreed. deleted the spinnity spin.

Triggtay 09:35, 18 February 2006 (UTC)

Vandalism

question: why do people keep puting "donald hump" and "dump"? i try to fix those usually. -- Dog_Eat_Dog_World

• This page gets an ENORMOUS amount of vandalism - usually once a day, but some days, more than once. It's amazing...why do people hate this guy so much? Or is it because people think they can find an easy target to vandalize so they can screw with the mods, but not make a giant public fuss (i.e. - by effing with a FA). Hmmm (--24.229.100.51 05:23, 25 February 2006 (UTC))

The hair

Something really ought to be said about his hair. Anybody want to take a stab at it? -Tim Rhymeless (Er...let's shimmy) 10:27, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

I think Trump concentrates more on "Premium" things

I realized that whenever people sees the name "Trump", I think that it involves luxury buildings and high-end dwellings. IMO Mr. Trump is actually focusing more in the premium end of Real Estate and that is why I had to notate in the beginning of the article that Trump always have been a name of luxury living, and when the building is built with the Trump name, IMO it is likely to have a high cost, so that is why I had to notate that Trump is more into premium real estate as opposed to just ordinary real estate. Take note of that. — Dark Insanity 03:27, 15 February 2006 (UTC)

Donald Trump's father

Did Donald Trump's father's death bail Donald out of his debt? Many biography about Donald Trump gives the impression that he brought himself out of debt by successful business skill(bias?). If so I would like at least two or more sources other than this one:

<http://www.itp.net/business/features/details.php?id=3356&category=arabianbusiness>,

how do we know that this source is creditable(since so many sites suggest that Donald brought himself out of debt)? On another note parts of the biography is copied from this site. Doesn't that violate copyright laws? This article needs more comfirmation that either Donald brought himself out of debt or that his father's death saved him Pseudoanonymous 03:19, 9 March 2006 (UTC)

ACN - endorsement

A recent edit added an ext link for this organisation, as Trump had endorsed it. Does this imply it belongs in the article as a result? Should the section just include organisations where Trump has actually purchased a significant share in the company, perhaps? Link remains in the article at present, until this is decided on. --OscarTheCat^talk 19:05, 20 March 2006 (UTC)

About Building Ownership

"Many developers pay Donald Trump to market their properties and be the public face of their projects. For this reason, he does not own many of the buildings that display his name"

Technically, except for the commercial buildings, Trump only owns the commercial portions of his other projects, with minor exceptions like a few units in Trump Tower, etc. Once the condominium unit is sold, ownership is transferred from the developer[s] to the owner. So Trump Tower is the aggragate of at least a hundred of individual owners.

Charitable Giving

Not clear whether this section belongs in the article at all. However, in case it does, I cleaned up the prose (which was editorial more than encyclopedic) and added two references to thesmokinggun.Fluxdrip March 27th, 2006

Grammar, Use, and Editing

definition: such; of a kind or character to be indicated or suggested <a bag such as a doctor carries> OR, of the same class, type, or sort <other such clinics throughout the state>, OR of the character, quality, or extent previously indicated or implied <in the past few years many such women have shifted to full-time jobs> (Definitions courtesy of Merriam-Webster).

I removed "such" from this sentence (subject of humor by comedians such as David Letterman and Regis Philbin.). These two comedians are not a kind of comedian. If the objective was to specify these two, among others, then another word is needed. Make changes or suggestion or I will change in two days. Suggestions: 1). subject of humor by comedians like David Letterman and Regis Philbin. 2). subject of humor by many comedians including David Letterman and Regis Philbin. (preference)

Also, when I edit I try to keep as much as was originally written, except when it is blatantly subjective or not substantiated. I think that we should take the time to edit our additions into the existing context, possibly re-writing it altogether. Just removing a period, adding a comma, and appending our contributuion leads to terrible sentences and confusion.

"such as" is an acceptable idiomatic construct meaning 'for example.' A variety of reliable sources, such as dictionary.com, confirm this use. Fluxdrip

An encyclopedia is not an appropriate place for idioms, especially if its entries are to have broad understanding. If it is the concensus that we violate this rule at Wiki, then fine.