by senior contributor Brendan Kownacki
“Winning, it’s about winning and we’ve gotta start winning,” commanded Donald Trump at his stop this week at The National Press Club in Washington, DC.
There’s one thing that’s for sure, Donald Trump does not mince his words and on this occasion, it was no exception.
Trump discussed branding and the growth of his own personal brand while commentating on American culture and politics and of course, sharing experiences that only Donald Trump can.
The National Press Club Luncheon speaker
Trump is amazingly compelling behind the podium and his self-confidence shines through. How could you not want to listen to that?
Some of his anecdotes were silly, some just made you think—so here he is, in his own words, and some video highlights of his remarks.
…on Obamacare
“I hear that the website for Obamacare is up to $5 Billion dollars. Now I do websites, and they cost $3 dollars…I have some of the best websites in the world. You can look at every one of my projects, there’s a website. Some are very complex. And they cost us peanuts, if you know what you’re doing. So we’re up to almost $5 Billion dollars, and it’s a really, obviously, it’s a very, very sad thing.”
…on the Apprentice
“They had 15 copies of The Apprentice, and I love it, all of them failed. And they failed badly. They failed like you never saw. Don’t we love that when your opponents fail? I love it, I don’t know about you, but…I’m not sure our country loves it, you know? But, I love it. Now what happens is, so, they had 15 copies, I could give you names, but…maybe I will, maybe I will anyway. You had Mark Cuban copy. Total failure, lasted for 2 nights. You had Martha Stewart copy. You had Richard Branson, you had Tommy Hilfiger, who is a great guy by the way. But all these copies, Hilton copied. So they had 15 copies all together and they were all off.”
…on Social Media
“You have Twitter and you have Facebook and you have Instagram and you have all of these different things that are so amazing. I have millions of followers. Millions. I don’t do press releases anymore, if I want a press release I just put it on Twitter, and I’ve got a press release. It’s so great. It’s like owning the New York Times without the losses, if you think about it.”
…on Chris Christie and 2016
“Chris is a friend of mine, and he’s a good guy, but he’s gotta get his problem cleared up. There’s no question about it…he has to get that whole thing straightened up and behind him, in which case he would be a viable candidate. But certainly he’s been devastated by it and hurt very badly by it. You just have to look at the polls………..he’s one email away from having a big problem.”
…on relations with Russia and Vladimir Putin
“In negotiation, the primary thing that you have to do is to get the other side to respect you, and President Putin does not respect or like President Obama. So you have a problem. I’m not sure that’s a problem that’s easily solvable. There’s a dislike, but Russia does not respect our country any longer.”
…on Leadership
“If you don’t win, people aren’t going to follow you.”
