The Art of The Deal By Donald J. Trump Book Review & Key Takeaways

The Art of The Deal By Donald J. Trump Book Review & Key Takeaways

The Art of The Deal By Donald J. Trump Book Review & Key Takeaways

The Art of The Deal By Donald J. Trump Book Review & Key Takeaways

The Art of The Deal By Donald J. Trump Book Review & Key Takeaways

The Art of The Deal By Donald J. Trump Book Review & Key Takeaways

The Art of The Deal By Donald J. Trump Book Review & Key Takeaways


Before Donald Trump became president, he was busy doing small deals. These small deals were all businesses comprising of multi million dollar projects. Years before he ran for president, Donald Trump wrote the book “The Art of the Deal” that shines light on how he became a billionaire. This book reveals how he negotiated some of his biggest real estate deals and how he does branding, marketing and publicity. Today, I’m up for sharing with you my takeaways after the reading of ‘The Art of the Deal‘ by Donald J. Trump.

Donald Trump has always been both criticized and praised for his controversial approach.

His methods are hardly ever conventional, which indicates that he’s a person whose actions cannot be anticipated. In ‘The Art of the Deal‘, Donald Trump outlines the eleven principles that guide his business decisions, and how they played out in the deals that defined his early career, including projects such as Trump Tower in New York, his first casino ventures in Atlantic City, and his gamble on the United States Football League.

The Art of the Deal is an autobiography that covers Donald Trump’s life until 1987.

The book was written when Donald Trump was in his early 40s. He talked about the deals he made in hotels, skating rings, New York businesses and more. It really gives a glimpse into Donald’s psyche and how he goes about creating these deals worth millions. The book reveals Donald Trump’s mindset, which is the essential ingredient in his real estate success. That said, my intention here is not to review his real estate achievements, which are already well-known. I studied the Art of the Deal to break down his most important beliefs, which later enabled him to be a successful television personality, and then, become the president of the USA.

Deal making is key to people’s riches.

If you think about it, if you know how to create a powerful deal that is profitable for yourself and the other person, you can make lots of money quickly. For example, let’s say a house is valued at $100,000 but you managed to create a deal with the seller and you purchased it for $10,000. With your deal making skills, you were able to pocket $90,000 almost instantly! How long would it take to save up $90,000? It would take years…

Donald Trump knew how to live life king size. This book gives a knowledge and inspiration of how to make a deal successful.

Hence Donald Trump has continually generated millions of dollars through deal making. Therefore it’s wise to learn this powerful art of making deals. I’ve read Donald Trump’s book for you and found the most important lessons inside it. So keep reading because you’re about to learn how to make your business and life great (again).

Takeaway #1: Aim High

The Art of The Deal By Donald J. Trump Book Review & Key Takeaways - Aim High

Most people would feel totally overwhelmed needing to manage 1,200 apartments, but Donald Trump and his father saw it a different way. Trump says it takes almost the same amount of energy to manage 1,200 tenants as it does 50, but with 1,200 you can make a lot more money. So Trump would feel like he was wasting time focusing a lot of energy into the project if it was small.

Donald Trump doesn’t work a million times harder than you. He just thinks bigger, which means he does different types of work.

That is why Trump didn’t exactly follow in his father’s already successful footsteps. His father was a developer of affordable and rent-controlled housing in New York boroughs. But Donald Trump wanted Manhattan and fifth avenue, the central locations. He wanted to build something big and monumental. Well, how it’s even possible to get a firm grip on success, without broadening your perspectives and destroying your limitations.

Thinking big can also help when you are selling and marketing your product.

Donald Trump likes to use words like “the best, tremendous and world-class” when talking about his projects. Many people know the name of the first person to walk on the moon, but not the second. Almost everyone knows the name of the fastest person in the world, but not the second. Several people know which is the tallest building in the world, but not the second. And there’s a reason why Apple marketing is always talking about how its new product is the thinnest iPhone ever or the lightest laptop. So, think big whenever you can. Be number one in your business category.

To achieve something big, you need to think bigger.

People from all over the globe, search for best ways to achieve their goals. But, the secret behind the success is within yourself, all you need to do is believe. If you will ask some renowned personalities about the secret behind their success, you will have common answer. They will tell you to think big and believe in yourself, the secret of success is here. Thinking big takes time. If you will connect yourself with some successful people, you will come to know why thinking big matters. Moreover, they will tell you that it all started with a single thought. That single thought, if worked properly will help you cultivate best results.

When your dream is big enough that it inspires others, rest assured that it will also attract bigger opportunities.

You become what you think about most of the time. If you are thinking and playing it small, you will attract small opportunities. But when you are thinking and playing big, big things will come to you. This is why successful people who have accomplished extraordinary results have big visions. The moment you dream big and aim high, you started to see things differently. And because you want to win big, you will find ways to achieve big success in whatever you do. You start to discover opportunities that don’t appeal to ordinary people.

Takeaway #2: Maximize Your Options

The Art of The Deal By Donald J. Trump Book Review & Key Takeaways - Maximize Your Options

Of course, not all of Donald’s deals goes well, however he always has a set of options that he can fall back on which enables him to still win. Some of his deals doesn’t usually go ahead on the first go, therefore Donald always has options that the other party can use and he will still walk away profitable. He’s also found that plan B or even C is usually better than Plan A. He finds that he ends up making more money and creates better opportunities from them.

Many people became successful simply because they did not give up, even with a total lack of encouragement.

Donald Trump wanted to buy an old building in New York. He met with the owner of the building for lunch. They had a conversation the guy said there was no way he was selling the building. So did Trump give up? No. He wrote a letter thanking the owner for coming to see him. A few months later, he wrote another letter asking if the guy had changed his mind. There was no reply. A few more months passed and he wrote another letter. No reply. Then another one. Why would Trump keep asking about the building even when the owner was clearly not interested in selling it? First, because he really wanted to buy it. Second, because he believed that sheer persistence alone often separates success and failure.

An effective technique with which you protect your downside is by maximizing your options.

Always keep several balls in the air, says Trump, because invariably some deals won’t happen, even when they seem very promising. And, I might happen, sometimes it won’t make sense for you to pursue a deal another ball in the air becomes more promising. Similarly, when a deal happens he always thinks of several different approaches to make it work. When you are close to reaching an agreement with a third-party, never rely on only one main scenario. Having a backup strategy in your pocket at all times can increasingly improve your chances of becoming a winner. As time goes by, and the bar is raised to a higher level, you wouldn’t want to be drained by the hostile environment.

Ordinary people love to lament on the bad economy but winners know better. 

Donald Trump built casinos in Atlantic City when no one else was willing to take risks because of the bad economic conditions the city was in. Life is full of ups and downs. Ordinary people think they will prosper when the economy is good, and suffer when it’s bad. Successful people profit from both. Know every option available to you and be willing to use them all. When you’re thinking of giving up, remember that persistence often makes the difference. Many people succeed not because they are smart or lucky, but because they continued to work even with a total lack of encouragement.

In MESO negotiation, where multiple offers are presented simultaneously at the negotiation table, effective negotiators seek opportunities to create value.

By making tradeoffs across issues, parties can obtain greater value on the issues that are most important to them. MESO negotiation strategy entails identifying several proposals that you value equally and presenting them to the other side. A MESO strategy avoids the burning of the back-and-forth of the multiple offer and counter-offer, helping to keep energy during long negotiations while helping to concentrate on important matters. It also helps the negotiator in gathering information about the other side’s priorities, while providing an anchoring device. On a behavioral argument, using a MESO helps negotiators to be aggressive (because it shortens the negotiation cycle) while showing signs of respect, cooperation and flexibility.

Takeaway #3: Never Be Desperate

The Art of The Deal By Donald J. Trump Book Review & Key Takeaways - Never Be Desperate

Trump isn’t afraid of bad publicity because he’s confident he can change people’s minds. He knows how to redirect people’s attention from the negative to positive which has saved his reputation many times. When most people are confronted with a negative question, they would probably become defensive. Donald Trump doesn’t argue, but he shifts the attention to a related topic.

The same way, you will want to capitalize on bad situations. When other people face challenges, it can create leverage to help you get a great deal.

Most people confuse positive thinking with optimism. Optimism doesn’t automatically equal to positive thinking. Donald Trump is an optimist, who believes in the power of negative thinking. Successful people have more failures in life than successes. If you are aware that you will fail a lot, you will not bet your life’s savings on a single endeavor. Expect to fail but minimize your costs. When you succeed once, you will easily forget about the failures. For example, go out and approach a beautiful girl today. If she rejects you, basically nothing will change in your life. If she doesn’t, you might get a date with a beautiful girl.

In a win-win negotiation, you want to get the best possible deal for yourself while you also work to make the other party as satisfied as possible.

The emotions displayed during a win-win negotiation can teach you what the other party really wants. They can also influence how you and the other negotiator interact. Negotiators who strategically display positive rather than negative emotions are more likely to preserve valuable business relationships, gain concessions and persuade opposing parties to accept their offers, and thus, more frequently close deals. When people do not feel appreciated, they tend to become defensive. In a negotiation, you want to demonstrate appreciation by showing how you understand the other negotiator’s perspective and communicate this.

To win negotiations and make good deals, you must have leverage.

To get the upper hand in deals, make the other person believe you have what they secretly want. So first you have to figure out what they want. For example, one time Donald Trump wanted to open a casino with Holiday Inn. He’d already found a site for the casino, made blueprints and started the construction. Now he wanted Holiday Inn as a partner to help finish the project. What did Holiday Inn want? They wanted to open a casino, but they didn’t want to start from scratch. This would save them a lot of money, time and energy. Holiday Inn believed Trump had what they wanted: a casino project that was soon to be finished. But the truth was Trump had just started construction. There wasn’t much progress yet. In this situation, Trump knew he needed to make the Holiday Inn executives keep believing that the project was well under way. That was his leverage.

The only way you’re going to make the deal you want, is if you’re coming from a position of strength and can convince the other side that you have something they need.

Trump was often able to scoop up deals because he had information that the other party didn’t have. Then he would try to get a commitment before the other party would catch wind of the situation. For example, when he was buying the land for Trump’s tower, he signed a letter of intent. When the seller put on the contract the usual “prior to board approval” clause, he gave it back to him saying nonchalantly that he wanted to sign the LOI to move quicker. Then, once he had the letter of intent, he later threatened to go to court when the seller wanted to back out of the contract. Since the seller needed cash, Trump had them.

Takeaway #4: You've Got to Be Sharp

The Art of The Deal By Donald J. Trump Book Review & Key Takeaways - You've Got to Be Sharp

Donald Trump talks about how he had a big meeting with someone in New York. This person invited him to a wealthy club where the person continually drank. Donald Trump doesn’t drink so he wasn’t sure how to behave with drinkers. However he later discovered that this was his huge advantage for most business people are drinkers and as a result, their mind would not be as sharp as someone who doesn’t drink.

In order to create deals, you have to be sharp and quick with your decision making.

There has not been a more controversial presidential candidate than Donald Trump in recent history. Even his supporters will admit it. Trump received the most negative reporting of any politician because he made many controversial and shocking statements. Every day, reporters of the mainstream media were trying to take him down with a new attack. The headlines every day were all about Trump. Trump understands the press is constantly hungry for a good story. And interesting stories involve confrontation or surprise. To get attention you have to do something a little different. Most people are afraid to say something outrageous or surprising because someone will be offended. But as a businessman, Donald Trump learned a surprising reality: Take a public stand on an important issue. Some people will agree with you and others will disagree, but you will get attention which often turns into sales.

Throughout the course of history, great conspirators were always on thin ice which could have collapsed at any moment.

Their boldness as a way of handling things, grant them all-deserving praises and rewards. When it comes to business, you might want to use the same strategy, and thus the press will safeguard your interests. Evidently, there’s no such thing as bad publicity, and being in the spotlight is all that matter. A key to understanding Trump’s success is that he actually likes handling complexity. What to others look like big problems, to him appear as massive opportunities. The more complex the deal, he notes, the fewer developers will be interested. Though one of his trademarks is confidence, in fact he always goes into any deal looking at what could possibly go wrong. Protect the downside and upside will take care of itself. Every deal must have a fallback position. The dealmaker must sacrifice personal preferences to ensure a profitable outcome.

Donald trump fought with the people who treated him badly and he fought for something he believed.

Donald trump has given a significant insight about his deals. He has given all the details about how he goes around a deal, what are the initial judgments for the investments. Humans have an innate tendency to preserve what they already have, rather than improve their lot in life. Improvement mandates action, so they prefer to do nothing as they fear losing what they have if they acted on their dreams. Donald Trump knew this from a young age. If you think like the majority, you will end up like the majority. The majority of the people suck. If you want to get ahead in life, you must take action. There are no ifs, ands or buts about it.

When reading “The Art of The Deal,” I noticed Trump has an instinctive rhythm when he is selling or negotiating.

First he sells himself and talks about the benefits of doing business with him. Then he takes a step back and mentions the weak parts of the other person’s product or offer. Forward and back. Forward and back. Do this next time you’re selling something: First, sell your strengths. Explain why should they do business with you or hire you? And second, undermine their position. Be careful not to insult them, just point out the negatives in the deal from your point of view.

Takeaway #5: Enjoy The Ride

The Art of The Deal By Donald J. Trump Book Review & Key Takeaways - Enjoy The Ride

Donald Trump opens the book explaining how much he works. He usually arrives at the office by 9 and leaves office by 6. Up until here, it might sound like a typical employee workday. But he rarely stops for lunch and when he goes home, he often continues making and taking calls until midnight. And it goes on all weekend as well. He makes at least a dozen meetings a day and at least 50 calls. And, most of all, he wants his work to provide fulfillment.

Money is just the name of the game, so don’t take it too seriously, have fun!

No matter how competent you are, you can never predict the future. History is full of what the great Nassim Nicholas Taleb calls Black Swan events. Donald Trump is aware of this and he tries to have fun. Control the things you can control, let go of the things you can’t. You have no other option. Do the best you can do and have fun. Thinking about doom and gloom will not protect you and your loved ones.

Most of us spend our days (and nights) working. A lot. we’re on this mission to create our businesses.

Once they’re created, were on this mission to grow our businesses. Once they’re growing, we’re on this mission to sustain our businesses. We don’t complain, we love it. We can’t imagine working this hard for anyone but ourselves. We work because we’re certain that we’d never be happy taking a job working someone else. But there’s one thing we all tend to forget: to have a little fun. We’re working so hard, always thinks about what needs to get done, that we often forget that this fleeting little life we have, zips by faster than we could ever expect. We need to pay attention to the tiny expected moments. You know, that whole “It’s the journey, not the destination” thing. On a less poetic note, I simply mean, enjoy the ride.

No one ever said it was easy to be an entrepreneur. And when they did, they were lying and/or selling something.

There are long hours, unexpected obstacles, and doubting friends and relatives. Hustling doesn’t have to hurt. Working for your goals will take blood, sweat and yes, maybe tears. Just don’t forget to appreciate the fun parts too. Hard work is common. But being so busy and frustrated that you do not take the time to get the value of what you are doing is unhealthy or helpful over time. Even in the go-to mode, take time each day to get a little closer and note all your accomplishments – and what you are grateful for – before you charge the next task on your to-do list. Find happiness in small things.

Every phase of life has benefits. Make the most of where you are today because life is short.

The secret of being happy is accepting where you are in life and making the most out of everyday. It doesn’t matter how old we are, what we’ve done, or how much money we have. Our journey is a personal one-full of lessons and reasons to be happy. When we stop comparing ourselves to others and realize how full our lives are, we can appreciate our individual value. Be around people who love you, not your success. Nurture you relationships and be a true friend without judgment. Spend time with your family and kids. Go to games and performances. Nothing says I love you more than taking the time to be involved in their lives.

Wrapping Up

The Art of The Deal By Donald J. Trump Book Review & Key Takeaways Final Thoughts
Get going. Move forward. Aim High. Plan a takeoff. Don’t just sit on the runway and hope someone will come along and push the airplane. It simply won’t happen. Change your attitude and gain some altitude. Believe me, you’ll love it up here.Donald J. Trump

Donald Trump clearly knew what he was doing, and it’s in our interest to follow his example. If you are afraid of a little controversy and challenge, the business world is not for you. Thriving on problems is the perfect mentality one can embrace. So, don’t hesitate to jump on the bandwagon and start your adventure.

The Art of the Deal is a great book that I found hard to put down.

To develop the art of negotiation, you have to learn to think big, inspiring yourself by Donald Trump to achieve success and make money through the smart deals. I listed my favorite takeaways from the book but there are many more lessons inside. Everybody will have different lessons to learn from Donald Trump. I strongly recommend this book to every man, no matter his standing in life.

The Art of the Deal is truly an inspirational to all the people who would like to pursue construction as their business.

It does not provide the technical stuff behind the business but it provides a great managerial aspect of this business. It helps us understand that more than earning money winning is more important and having fun of it. Thinking big is the first step to any success. People think small because they can’t take big decision on time under great pressure. They are afraid of the down turn of the deal but Donald Trump teaches us that before any deal we should calculate our downside losses first and while dealing give no chance to other to overcome on you.

Donald trump is a great person and a brilliant entrepreneur who believes in hard work pays off.

He would go against anybody who is wrong even if it causes a great loss to him. Donald trump believed that on buying at low price and selling it at a higher price and to do this he appointed right people with right talent for the job. This book really provides all the managerial skills that are required to guide a person while making a deal. No one really teaches you how to be good at deal making and this book is a great start to learning this crucial skill. By mastering the skill of deal making, you are on your way to millions just like Donald Trump himself.

Think bigger. Stay strong and be relentless.

If you enjoyed Donald Trump’s work, “The Art of the Deal,” leave your feedback to let us know your opinion and always offer the best to you! If you want to dig deeper into the subject, you can enjoy and purchase the book by clicking the link below 🙂

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