Donald Trump could help St. Albert. New York City tried for seven years to rebuild the Wollman Skating Rink in Central Park at an estimated cost of $20 million. Donald Trump took it on and restored it in four months at a cost of $1.8 million. Just think what he could do for us if he took over the City of St. Albert’s Downtown Area Redevelopment Program (DARP). Of course the NYC Central Park rink was renamed The Trump Rink. Maybe he would help us out if we renamed our inner city as Trump Village?
Mr. Trump’s bombastic oratorical style is the source of much derision by TV political commentators. But currently he is the most influential person in U.S. national politics. He could determine who will be the next USA president. Remember Ross Perrot, another prominent conservative. American businessman? He won 19 per cent of the votes in the 1992 presidential election when he ran for the Reform Party. George H.W. Bush lost and Bill Clinton won the presidency with only 39 per cent of the popular vote. Of course, Mr. Trump has promised he won’t run as an independent – but that is dependent on the Republican Party treating him as nicely as he thinks he deserves.
Donald Trump may appear to be a buffoon, but his business, authorship, and public service accomplishments should not be underestimated.
He may be derided by some in owning part or all of Miss Universe, Miss USA and Miss Teen USA pageants, but he also was given the American Cancer Society Lifetime Achievement Award this year and received the Commandant’s Leadership Award from the U.S. Marine Corps.
A native of Brooklyn, he took over his father’s real estate business following graduation from the Wharton School of Business. The School awarded him Entrepreneur of the Year award at age 33. Voted by Business Week magazine readers as “the world’s most competitive business person” he is credited as starting the ultra-luxury condo business in New York City and rehabilitating Manhattan living in the 1980s.
His holdings are now international, with 33 skyscrapers and luxury holdings which include Mar-a-Lago Club, a National Historic Landmark, and named ‘Best Club Anywhere in the World’ by the American Academy of Hospitality Sciences. Trump Hotels are rated Forbes 5-star diamond accommodations.
Trump also owns 16 international golf courses. Golf Digest magazine recognized him as ‘Golf’s Greatest Builder’ and Sports Illustrated named him ‘The Most Important Figure in the World of Golf.’
He has authored 16 books, all listed on the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and Amazon best seller lists – including Time To Get Tough: Making America #1 Again.
He hosted the thrice Emmy Award nominated reality show The Apprentice with his finale’s viewership beaten only by the Super Bowl.
And the Trump merchandise line includes clothing, home furnishings, men’s fragrance and natural spring water (there’s hope yet for the Sturgeon River?).
So let’s pay some attention to this American phenomenon. I wonder if he would like to buy a pipeline or two?
Alan Murdock is a local pediatrician.
