Donald Trump - Liberty University Convocation

today we welcome one of the greatest visionaries of our time his business success in making his own dreams of reality is legendary from Scotland to Puerto Rico from Chicago to Palm Beach from Las Vegas to New York's famous skyline that the name Trump has become synonymous with many of the most luxurious and prestigious properties in the world mr. Trump started his business career in an office he shared with his father in Brooklyn New York he worked with his father for five years his father was his mentor and his father once commented that everything his son touch seemed to turn to go mr. Trump then entered the very different world of Manhattan real estate the Trump name now graces some of New York's most iconic buildings many of the world's greatest golf courses in some of the world's most luxurious and award-winning hotels Trump's properties are spread throughout the nation and around the world including the world-renowned Fifth Avenue skyscraper Trump Tower the Trump International Hotel Xand towers in both New York and Chicago and the Trump Hotel Collection here at Liberty University we plan to start replacing our oldest dorms in the dorm circle with residential towers in January and I think we need a Trump Tower to here on campus dungeon I know that's news to some of you but don't worry we want this place you will put you in good good place if we do mr. Trump was selected as the developer of the famous old post office building in Washington DC he restored and rebuilt the wall man skating rink in Central Park and is also responsible for the total exterior restoration of a Grand Central Station over the years mr. Trump has owned and sold many great buildings in New York including the Plaza Hotel the st. Moritz and until 2002 he actually owned the real estate that's set under the Empire State Building mr. Trump is now one of our neighbors in May of 2011 he purchased the Kluge estate and vineyard just up the road in Charlottesville Virginia it's now called the Trump vineyard estate it's the largest vineyard on the East Coast in a departure from just acquiring and developing real estate mr. Trump became a partner with NBC television as both owner and broadcaster of the three largest beauty pageants in the world Miss Universe Miss USA in teen USA by two by 2004 Trump netted again joined forces with NBC and others to produce and star in the television reality show The Apprentice this quickly became the number one show on television making ratings history and receiving three Emmy nominations an accomplished author mr. Trump's 1987 autobiography the art of the deal became one of the most successful business bestsellers of all time some of his more recent titles sound like books my father would have written in 2008 he wrote never give up followed by think like a champion in 2009 my father preached the Sermon as you know never quit so often that that phrase is inscribed on his memorial he also declared almost daily that this University's mission was to Train champions for Christ mr. Trump's most recent title time to get tough making America number one again was released early this year and immediately became yet another bestseller in addition to continuing our mission here of training champions for Christ the title of Trump's latest book describes what has become one of my priorities here at Liberty to instill in our students the desire to return America to its founding principles mr. Trump is a native of New York City is a graduate of the Wharton School of Finance he's also a philanthropist he serves as chairman of the Donald J Trump Foundation as well as co-chairman of the New York Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund he also hosts the annual Red Cross ball at is Mar Lago Club in Palm Beach in January of 2012 he received American Cancer Society's Lifetime Achievement Award Trump was designated as developer of the Year by the construction management Association of America in 1995 he served as the grand grand marshal of the largest parade ever held in New York City the nation's parades celebrating the 50th anniversary of the end of World War two and year 2000 he received what many believed to be his greatest honor the hotel and real estate visionary of the century award in August 2006 Businessweek readers voted mr. Trump the world's most competitive business person and Forbes ranked him number 14 in the world on their top 100 celebrity list mr. Trump is also one of the highest-paid speakers in the world drawing tens of thousands of people just last fall he did a speech in Australia it was paid five million dollars for it we are we're deeply honored and I might add relieved that mr. Trump waved his feet here today as a gift to Liberty University finally Trump has also become one of the most influential political leaders in the United States in 2011 after failed attempts by Senator John McCain and Hillary Clinton mr. Trump single-handedly forced President Obama to release his birth certificate last year out of a personal concern for the future of America he even considered running for president when he when he did so even though he wasn't officially a candidate he shot to the top of the polls he's gained a reputation for speaking frankly and courageously about the way which our government has systematically attacked the free enterprise system while simultaneously engaging an unprecedented expansion of government I would like to ask Donald Trump and Liberty's provost and senior vice president for academic affairs to join me at the podium in recognition of Donald J Trump's unwavering public commitment to our nation's founding principles of limited government individual liberties and and the free enterprise system and in further recognition of his iconic status as one of America's most successful visionaries and entrepreneurs with the power vested in me by the Liberty University Board of Trustees the doctorate of Business is hereby conferred with all the rights and privileges appertaining thereto please welcome to Liberty University for the first time dr. Donald Trump thank you Wow what a place what a place you know Jerry took my speech but I said we don't really need that stuff anyway this is an amazing school it's an amazing University and I'll tell you something all over the world they're talking about it Liberty University what they've done and in such a short time so you could be very very proud of yourself and your leaders amazing job you know your founder Jerry Falwell was a great man and I was saying before that I met him on a number of occasions so impressive so smart so tough when you had to be tough but a man with a big beautiful heart tremendous heart and I have to tell you that Chancellor Jerry Falwell Jr is an incredible guy now I am in the real estate business a lot of you don't know this but for about 20 years Jerry Falwell Jr was in central Virginia as a real estate developer a friend of mine from the area said man was he tough and smart and good you believe this and now look what he's doing so it all sort of works but he was a tough smart guy and I want to just tell you I'm glad he's sort of left the real estate business because Trump would be a distant number two I can tell you that it's true you know when I got a call from Liberty I said you know I was confirmed at First Presbyterian Church Jamaica Queens you don't know where Queens is it's in New York first president and I said you have that certificate and you have that picture are they going to put it up because I actually sent it but uh I was a brat I was a terrible brat actually but you know I used to love going to Sunday school people don't know this about Trump they think Oh Trump you know Trump but the truth is I went to Sunday school and I loved going to Sunday school and I did for years and First Presbyterian Church which is one of the oldest in the country was just a great place and I learned a lot and I learned about God and that was probably the greatest thing I've ever learned forget all the business stuff when I was asked to speak I said you want me to speak you know these are in many cases young people that are going and they want to conquer the world and do well or do you want me to talk politics and they said well maybe you talk about success but you could mention a little bit about politics well let's start by saying that our country is in serious trouble it's in serious trouble we have 17 trillion in debt we have a real unemployment of 21 percent forget the 8.2 percent nonsense the real number is 21 percent you know the numbers are such that you can't read them anymore when you're looking for a job and then you give up they take you off the unemployed and your number doesn't show up so we're anywhere from 16 to 21 percent the world is laughing at us we're like a bunch of Patsy's China is taking advantage of us like nobody has ever done before China I sold an apartment recently for fifty three million dollars in a building in New York and a great building all my buildings are great to a Chinese gentleman who in all fairness I don't I'm not knocking Chinese leadership if you can get away with it get away with it but he said how do we get away with this he actually is asking me how do we get away with it our leaders don't get it let me give you a little example the Olympics we wanted to get the Olympics in Chicago now the President of the United States makes a trip to Europe on Air Force one trip must've cost probably ten million dollars if you knew what these planes cost with all the security he goes there to make the case that the Olympics should come to the United States this is called amateur hour he gets an audience and he leaves so I say to myself oh we've got the Olympics it's done because no president of the United States would have ever gone to Europe and made such a big deal unless he got or had a wink and a nod meaning you come here you're getting it not only didn't we get it we came in fourth place now think of this this is the way our country is run we are losing our jobs and our manufacturing to other places you know we talk about Apple everyone's talking about Apple and Apple is wonderful but they don't make their product here they make it mostly in China so what are we gaining you know we're not gaining they make the product why can't we make computers why can't we make cell phones why can't we make the iPhone in this country we should be doing it here we just seem to have lost our edge and now we're in a position that unless things take place and take place fast we are going to be for many many years to come in serious trouble to the point that I don't know that you can really come back OPEC take a look at OPEC you go to their airports you see where they live you see the way they live unbelievable then you come in to LaGuardia to Kennedy to LAX and it's horrible it's like a third-world country we're spending money that we don't have we're borrowing money from China to fight in Libya so they go out and kill our ambassador and other Americans and then guess where China gets a lot of its oil from Libya we don't get the oil from Libya China at us and I see that and I made the statement if people said oh it's so controversial it's so controversial we get called by the Libyans they were being routed if you remember they were being routed by Qaddafi it was over so the rebels you know like Gone with the Wind a nice romantic term rebels most of them came from Iran and they were fighting us in Iraq but the rebels convinced us to spend billions of dollars on helping them now when they come just like the Olympics story what President would do that unless you know you're going to win same story here they come they're about over it's two days from the end and they say we need help now if Jerry were in this position if I were in this position or of somebody that had some brain power we're in the position and I some people disagree with this and I don't know maybe you people will disagree I would have said very simply we will help you but we want 50 percent of your oil and they would have said absolutely and the only reason I wouldn't have asked for 75 percent is because I want to be a nice person okay like you and they would have said absolutely now have you said it horrible same thing in Iraq we go into Iraq you know what Iran in order to get to Syria is flying their planes directly over Iraq because it's a much shorter trip so Iraq has the second-largest oil reserves in the world we go into Iraq we spend 1.5 trillion dollars they hate us and we get nothing you know in the old days when you had a war it was to the victor belong the spoils today we get nothing we go into a war we decimate a country and then we come out and what do we do it's horrible the way this country is being run is horrible we have such unbelievable potential such incredible now we could have said at a certain point during the Iraqi war listen we're going to stay we're going to help you out a little further but we want a lot of your oil we want to pay at least give us back 1.5 trillion which sounds like a lot of money it's peanuts they have nine trillion dollars worth of oil give us some money back so it's now the opposite I heard the other day where an Iraqi probably potential killer said we want the United States to pay for all the destruction they've done to our country and one of these idiot politicians will probably say you know what that's the only fair thing to do so what we're doing with our country is oblivion I've said and Michelle's heard me say it and hope she does great in her it's gonna be a tough one right she's two points up tough area but you're gonna win you better win but I've said that in terms of this country we don't need OPEC we have so much oil you probably with your luck sure you probably have it right under here I don't know if you want to touch it but you have it right under here but we have so much oil and so much energy that in all fairness four years ago we didn't know existed between the natural gas and actual oil and it's pure beautiful oil we don't need OPEC we should have approved the pipeline from Canada but we don't need Canada we don't need anybody now I left New York and New York is being flooded flooded with presidents from and dictators and everybody you got some dictators you got some presidents some were sort of a combination of both they call themselves president but they're actually a dictator but we got hundreds of them there in New York we have a president it's in New York you know how many meetings he's going to have not one he's not meeting with one foreign leader now they talk about our country and they talk about how Barack Obama has done so well in Foreign Relations and his foreign policy he's so brilliant what's prett everything's terrible you know he gets the greatest press of anybody that I think I've ever seen you talk about Teflon I've never seen anything like it I heard somebody saying the other day that he's an expert on foreign policy he went over to Cairo Egypt and made a speech Mubarak was overthrown and now they hate us and we give them billions of dollars and we continue to give them bid and they want more money but they still hate us it's inconceivable what's going on so here's the story if this country doesn't shape up and shape up quickly going to be very very hard to recover number one number two we have an election coming up that outside of the biggies you know George Washington Abraham Lincoln we had a couple of biggies right and maybe more important than them this is I think going to be the most important election that we've ever had there's never been a time in our country's history where a presidential election was more important because our country is going in the wrong direction our dollar is being devalued the world is laughing at us they think we're stupid and I see the way Liberty University has been run I've seen where you came from and how it was a struggle and how brilliant it is right now our country has this same potential if we ever wanted to do something about it as an example the trillions of dollars that we give on energy if we took it for ourselves and actually took it whatever we don't need we export it we can take care of our deficits we can take care of our 16 trillion dollars which will turn out to be peanuts by comparison to the kind of numbers you're talking about so the potential is enormous hopefully the right things happen in a month and a half and we get back on track because the next subject that we're going to discuss just briefly is success do you guys I see all these handsome young men in the front and I see all these beautiful young women do you guys want to be successful at don't you care okay you better believe it so let's talk about it okay all right what does he have it stand up stand up I love this guy stand that look at these guys you have great people I love them because I was no different when I was 20 years old believe me I wanted to be successful I wanted to get out of Brooklyn I said pop I love you but I want to get out of Brooklyn I love Brooklyn but I want to get out and I love those buildings why you know I looked from Queens and Brooklyn and I'd see those big buildings those big skyscrapers in Manhattan I said pop that's what I want to do that's what I wanted to do and lots of things can happen I mean I'll give you one story about eight years ago I was approached by NBC and Mark Burnett to do a show that they had entitled The Apprentice now I had an agent a big big big agent and he was a great agent but I shook mark Burnett's hand and NBC was dying to do it and they said would only do it if you do it Trump you're the only one we want nobody else so I was honored and I said you know okay I'm gonna do it I knew nothing about television nothing so my agent calls me I heard you accepted during The Apprentice I won't let you do it I said I said you're fired he's worse than me I did say that but I waited a little while okay you're tough so Jim said Donald in the history of television there's never been a prime-time show about business or what you're trying to do that succeeded I said I wish you told me that then he said and only 3% of the shows that go on television make it so in other words you're probably going to have a failure anyway but you'll definitely have a failure I'm your agent I do not want you to do this show so I said you know Jim I have a problem I shook the hand of NBC and I shook the hand of Mark Burnett who also is known for having done the survivor which is another great one I think Apprentice is better but these are minor detail I said I should get nice it doesn't matter you can't do it I said I have to do it anyway time goes by we do the show it goes on it starts at number 10 it goes to 8 it goes to 5 and 4 it then goes to number 2 in the following week it's the number one show on television and I knew it was good because I didn't know what the word rating meant I didn't know is that good or bad but I know it was good because the chairman of NBC called me was my birthday and it was 7:00 in the morning and he called said Donald I just wanted to wish you a happy birthday now to me as an instinctive businessman that means we're doing okay right my wife said who was that I said that was the chairman of NBC he want to wish me happy she said darling it's like 6:30 in the morning so we went out and I get a call from the agent and he calls me also but his goal was like at 8:00 he's at Donald congratulations I'd like to see you I said Jim what do you want to see me about said well you show just hit number one and if you don't mind I think I'm entitled to a very substantial Commission oh he's worse than a real estate broker Jerry so I said how much do you think you're entitled to well how about two or three million dollars I said Jim you're fired and that was it how is it but remember this okay the story is long but the point is number one I shook hands I want to honor my handshake I would have had I not shaken hand I would have really listened to Jim so that's important number two is sometimes in life to be successful oftentimes most of the time you have to follow your instincts you have to follow your gut you have to your parents may say wrong you're whoever may say wrong but you have to do it now speaking of that you've got to love what you do and I've seen so many instances where people with great talent went into things that they didn't love and they failed I've seen other instances where people with far less tell I went to the Wharton School of Finance I used to say until coming here it's the greatest school in the world the greatest Business School in the world I may have to revise my speeches to put it at number two soon I probably will the way you're going I think I'm going to have to do that pretty so but I I would always say to people and I'd see people and I'd say you gotta love what you do because you know if you love what you do you work harder but it's not work I love I just bought Doral I was telling Jerry I just put throughout 800 acres in the middle of Miami gorgeous I'm so excited I want to fix it up it's sort of not so nice now it's got the big tournaments got everything but it was run by Wall Street people Wall Street people aren't good for fixing things they're good for moving paper that's not good that's not what we want in the country I want to do sort of a version of what you did here but I have many many jobs like that I love taking things and fixing taking things and building I love building I almost like fixing better because if you're smart if you're really smart you can save a lot of money when the building is there the foundations are built the steel is up the walls are up and then you know yet people say renovation costs you more money those are people that aren't smart people I know that for a fact you renovated a couple buildings here and did very well that you could never ever do if you had a build new if you build new I love that too I do it both ways but there's something great about the event renovation project so you've got to love what you do you've got to work hard never ever quit never ever give up because that's the other thing I've seen people that are super genius but they don't have that gut feeling they don't have that stick-to-itiveness that never quit and I've seen people that almost made it and failed because they couldn't go that extra mile they couldn't do it so you get something you never ever quit never ever give up you know there's another one I was I was coming down and I just wrote it and I very rarely spoken about it and frankly I don't like to talk in the negative but sometimes people are better off knowing the facts should I tell you what it is or not yes I had a feeling you were gonna say you know when people ask me about success I've just started thinking about it over the last couple years because I've seen a lot of it you have to have an ability to handle pressure because you no matter how successful you are I have many many friends and enemies a lot of enemies do I don't care but this mark I have a lot of enemies and I've watched people and I've seen it and people that can handle pressure can be entrepreneurs can be successful now I have some friends that are really really smart but they can't handle pressure in which case they should work for somebody do great and have a good life there's nothing wrong with it because I almost think that's an instinctive thing the ability to handle pressure now one of the things I tell people about pressure is you know what they said how do you handle pressure who's had more pressure than me I have I had pressure over the years and you know I mean I get criticized in my hair but it's not so bad and is real it's mine you know it is my real hair I mean I get killed I had an article recently that was so good it was such a great article and then had one line but he wears the worst hairpiece I've ever seen I couldn't show the article to anybody and it's not even true but you have to have the ability to handle pressure and if you can't handle pressure you have to know that about yourself you have to know that about yourself so handle pressure if you can't that's okay but one of the things I tell people about handling pressure is remember because he asked me the question how do you handle the stress and you know somebody actually said Donald you're so handsome you believe this I love this person you're so handsome how have you stayed so handsome under all this pressure and I actually thought of it to myself you have to remember it doesn't matter god matters your family matters it doesn't matter and if you say it that I have some people they say I've got to be successful I've got to be they'll never be successful it's too crazy they they can't think straight does that make sense does that make sense to you that was going crazy standing up about your success right so you've got a handle now he's a little bit more low-key that's very good I like that we've calmed him down so you've got to be able you've got to be able to sort of say to yourself nothing matters that much other than the real big deals with family with your faith etc okay always have passion you've got to have passion for your family for your life for your church for whatever it is you've got to have that passion you've got to just love it okay now there are a couple of things that I give in speeches and he's right I get millions of dollars to speak he gave me nothing this guy's tough I actually said well you know through a representative mr. Trump gets millions of dollars to speak and they looked at me like excuse me millions to get it you get enough think I said okay but I'm a presbyterian so I'm gonna be there because they won't even pay for my plane fare you know that not even my plane but honestly I have to tell you I love you too for the well that's a mail that said that that was a mail that's it but I love him too okay but you know I really wanted to be here because I've heard so much about Liberty University especially being presbyterian being a Christian and a very proud Christian and a real Christian people are gonna say gee I wonder what he meant by that but I've heard so much about Liberty University and the job that's been done that this was really really my honor I always finish off by saying two things but I'm not going to say them to you because you people don't have this problem one is in business get even if somebody hurts you and I use a much different word in other speeches than I do but I won't use it cuz Becky said please don't use bad language said I miss it so I'm not going to use it so I'm gonna say should I use it now I want you I promised you know I did it in front of a ruff-ruff group of Teamsters in Las Vegas they were great and I did it and I used some really foul language I got killed by that language cuz that was broadcast all over the place but I wouldn't do it but I always say don't let people take advantage this goes for a country too by the way don't let people take advantage get even and you know if nothing else other people will see that and they're gonna say you know I'm gonna let Jim Smith or Sarah Malone I'm gonna let them along because they're tough customers so I always say it but I won't say it to you because it's a different audience you don't want to get even do you yeah I think you do okay the other thing I tell people because in New York it's like a total catastrophe it's an epidemic I always say always have a prenuptial agreement but I won't say to you because you people don't get divorced right nobody gets divorced okay so I will not say have a prenuptial agreement anybody in this room I just want to end who else would say that but Trump right say I said I should say it but I won't say it how do I get my point across without saying it I just did it right but to be a winner and you're all winners you've got to think like a winner and you are just thinking like a lot of beautiful winners and I love you all let's take a couple of questions because they were asking can we do some questions let's do it go ahead go ahead you the students actually texted these questions to tally all right one student wants to know what was your very first business venture well my father was a developer a real estate man in Brooklyn and Queens and so my first real ventures were when I was at the Wharton School of Finance I did some little deals around Philadelphia word buy little houses Philadelphia yeah and I'd fix him up and sell him and I had fun but my best thing was walking around and checking real estate with my father I loved it I wish you were around today he died at 94 he loved what he did and he looked great and he was great but he just loved what he did it kept him young and happy he was a happy guy what you said about about pressure my father used to say that a man's greatness is measured not by his talent or as wealth but but by what it takes to discourage him so it made me think of that when it's good point but what uh what would be one word of advice you would have for an upcoming businessman knowledge knowledge but if it's one word one words very hard for that but the word is knowledge but you get knowledge through experience one of the things people talk about is luck and I do believe that people are lucky and some people are luckier than others I do believe that but there's also an expression the harder you work the luckier you get and I can tell you ten instances where I didn't quit one it was 1990 the world was coming down the debt markets would to everybody all of my friends and enemies were going bankrupt I never did and the but try I mean the times were actually just terrible and even today you look at times and you see what happens and you have to learn but the word luck is very interesting but if I didn't work really hard I probably would not almost definitely would not be here today and unless you had me up as a man who at one point was successful but let's see what a loser looks like so you have to work hard because it is true you can develop luck through hard work what was your favorite moment on The Apprentice well I always loved Omarosa do we love Omarosa by the way we're shooting starting tomorrow we start shooting the Celebrity Apprentice sort of the same thing off shoot and Omarosa is a candidate we brought back amorous we have a great cast we have 14 people all the best so we've taken the best from every season and we'll be shooting but I think my my best day on apprentice was really because again I as I said before Jerry I knew nothing about ratings but when I found out that I was the number one show on television I said can you believe I said think of my father think what he'd my father had passed away before that I said I'm a movie star I'm a television son this was not supposed to be in my agenda so that was probably the coolest moment is when I found out how well we were doing this is my question did you really punch your second grade teacher because you felt like they didn't know much about music was that what I read that somewhere highly competitive student I have no comment Jerry I will tell you before we came out he went in the restroom to make sure he looked okay took one look in the mirror he said can't can't improve it so he walked out that's true but uh we have one more question students want to what courses of study do you recommend most likely to help them find a job in today's economy I think that's the best question I have so many young people coming to my office where they're friends of you know daughters and sons and all and they want to know can you know sit could you sit down with my daughter or my son and give them a little advice I would always say study something that can help you after you get out of college I mean I see so many students studying things I don't want to say anything about which because I could give you ten different names things that will never ever let them lead a life where they can support a family where they can support their children and their education and healthcare and all of those things and I want to tell them don't do it but at the same time if they love it I always say you have to do what you love but I would always say if you want to be a teacher you study certain courses where you want to teach those particular courses if you want to be a business person you should absolutely go to business school and whether it's marketing or accounting or any other if you want to be a scientist if that's your thing you got you have to study that so always study something but when you study it don't do it just because it's of interest do it because remember you'll be graduating in two years or four years or whatever it may be and you want to use that as a base for a great life for you your family and you want to be proud of yourself and your family wants to be proud of you so don't waste that college time to my way of thinking Jerry College time is so precious such an important time probably in a way the most important time of your lives don't waste that period of time on studying things that just won't help you if you have to do it you have to do it but I would recommend you study something that's going to help you in the future you are a great great group of people and I'm honored to have been here and I hope to come back someday soon Jerry yeah it's not too late to get back in the presidential race is it I don't know Thank You Donald thank you so much for being with us today and you guys are dismissed you

Channel: Liberty University

Views: 1,751,848

Rating: 4.6727462 out of 5

Keywords: Liberty University, Liberty, University, College, school, student, Convocation, Convo, campus, Donald Trump, The Donald, Trump, education, Christian, speech, address, real estate, business, success, nation, election, politics

Id: Gvl2y34puhY

Length: 42min 45sec (2565 seconds)

Published: Tue Sep 25 2012