Don King, the boxing promoter, has stated that my recent presidential exploratory campaign was one of the greatest promotions of all time. Sadly, many have agreed with him and have thought that my foray into presidential politics was done for the purpose of further heightening the Trump name, helping to sell my new book and building even greater awareness of my various real estate developments.

That, however, is not the case. I seriously thought that America might be ready for a businessman president, someone with an eye for the bottom line, someone who has created thousands of jobs and isn't part of the ''inside the Beltway'' buddy system. I also thought that Americans might be ready for straight talk and that they would find an unscripted candidate appealing.

Jesse Ventura's victory in Minnesota served as my model. A nonpolitician celebrity who spoke uncommonly straight to the voters, Mr. Ventura came out of nowhere to beat two experienced, big-name politicians at a time of economic prosperity, and he did so as the nominee of a fledgling third party.

The Reform Party was my chosen vehicle because its nomination process does not involve a long string of early primaries, but instead culminates in one national primary conducted by mail and e-mail in August. Refreshingly democratic, the Reform Party process would lend itself to a candidate with national name recognition and the financial resources to flood the process with new people.