Trumped!: The Inside Story of the Real Donald Trump-His Cunning Rise and Spectacular Fall (Hardcover)

by John R. O'Donnell (Author), James Rutherford (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Kirkus Reviews
An old saw about Hollywood has it that if you scrape away the phoney tinsel, you'll find the real tinsel underneath. On the evidence of the would-be hiss-and-tell expos‚ at hand, much the same could be said of Donald Trump, the casino real-estate operator who's now adrift in a sea of financial woes. By the author's evenhanded, knowledgable account, in fact, Trump is a decidedly dull boy whose life story could as easily have been subtitled ``The Banality of Narcissism.'' The son of a top gaming-industry executive, O'Donnell (now 36) grew up in the slot-machine business. A sometime prot‚g‚ of Steve Wynn, he signed on with The Donald's organization in 1987. As chief operating officer at Trump Plaza, O'Donnell was in almost daily contact with his boss. If familiarity did not breed contempt, it eventually led to distaste. Trump at work emerges here as a cocksure boor who pays precious little attention to detail and pins the blame for his own misjudgments on subordinates. While he seems surprisingly dumb when it comes to weighing a deal's downside risks against its potential rewards, he apparently suffers from near- terminal overconfidence. As O'Donnell makes clear, however, his empire was built on an abiding faith in rising property values, an assumption that came a cropper shortly after the Taj Mahal's botched opening. And Trump at play with his yacht, helicopter, and other trophies is an equally unappealing eminence. A lover of gossip, The Donald has a phobia about germs, which makes him reluctant to shake hands with high-rolling customers or mingle with the celebs he adores and caters to. Nor does the abstemious Trump have a talent for extramarital flings. A long-running, oddly joyous affair with Marla Maples cost him his marriage to Ivana--and a good deal more. At any rate, O'Donnel quit Trump cold about a year ago. Now employed at Merv Griffith's Resorts Casino Hotel, he's watched from afar as Trump's sagging fortunes have attested to the truth of Hardy's contention that character is fate. An insider's saavy appraisal of a lad who lierally grew too big for his britches; no real surprises or new dirt for attentive readers of tabloid and business news, but a slick piece of work that will almost surely attract attention. -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Product Description
The former president of Trump Plaza reveals how his infamous employer leveraged his way into Atlantic City without understanding the casino business, why the Taj Mahal was a failure, and the latest dirt on Marla and Ivana. Reprint. K. NYT. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; First Edition, First Printing edition (May 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 067173735X
• ISBN-13: 978-0671737351
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,373,797 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Donald gets Trumped!, August 23, 1998

By A Customer

If you're in business or thinking of owning a business (big or small) consider Trumped! This book is a good learning tool for keeping your ego in check and dollars in the bank. Trumped! takes the reader on an endless roller coaster ride into The Donald's doings, and how his huge ego and whacked business deals finally led him to his undoing. The book reveals that a large part of Trump's downfall was the death of his three lead guys, but it's ultimately The Donald's own irresponsibility that was driving the train wreck to financial failure. Trumped! is an excellent venture into the mind of an irrational, ego-driven tyrant. As far as a business book is concerned, I think it serves as a reminder to all those present or future business owners to keep a sharp eye on the books, and a big heart open for all the people who make their business a success. At times Trumped! reads like a soap opera. But the book seems to maintain an even balance between the surreal world of Donald's many romances and the cold hard numbers that make or break financial success. END

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great insider view of the Trump organization, June 1, 2005

By	Deepak Bansal (Lake Mary, FL) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Trumped! (Audio Cassette)

I've always wondered how Donald Trump could go bankrupt running a casino, this book is a fascinating read on how it happened. Jack O'Donnell was a high ranking executive in Trump's casino operations, and for a time actually ran his only consistently profitable casino, Trump Plaza (at least it was consistently profitable until Jack O'Donnell quit). Jack details in fascinating detail Donald Trump's erratic behavior, lack of knowledge of the casino business, and all the "fuzzy math" surrounding the junk bonds that financed Trump's acquistions. This book shows very clearly what goes on behind the hype surrounding the myth of Donald Trump, it is very highly recommended.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating Account of Trump and the A. C. Casino Industry, February 24, 2005

By	Joshua Reicks "dack02" (Ames, Iowa United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book recounts firsthand through the eyes of Jack O'Donnell, a man who for a time ran the Trump Plaza and intimately dealt with all of the Donald's casino holdings in AC, Trump's rise and fall in the Atlantic City gaming industry. I came at the book from two ends, for one I am facinated by the casino industry and high dollar business in general, and two when you mix in a volatile personality like Trump's the end result is a fast read that was throughly satisfying. O'Donnell's prose reads like a novel as he recounts Trump's slick business dealings and initial success. Things start to sour as the Donald makes a string of strategic errors and allows his ego to cloud his perception of reality leaving his business holdings on the brink of financial ruin. Anyone interested in Trump should make this a first purchase as the Donald is disected in an unflinchingly intimate light by a man who spoke with him almost daily for three years. Others interested in high finance and the casino industry will also enjoy this book.