

Reporter who rubbed elbows with Trump dishes out dirt By Michelle Archer, Special for USA TODAY Anyone with a TV can catch a glimpse of Donald Trump's glitzy world on The Apprentice every Thursday night, from the darkened "boardroom" in New York to the sun-washed golf course in Palm Beach, Fla., and the jet that takes him back and forth. So why hand over $24.95 to read about how Trump created that world? For the dirt, of course. And New York Times reporter Timothy O'Brien dishes it in TrumpNation. O'Brien, who writes that he has covered Trump's businesses since 1990, interviewed Trump and many enemies and allies — from The Apprentice contestants to casino mogul Steve Wynn to former New York City mayor Ed Koch to ex-wife Marla Maples. The result is a revealing attempt to separate Trump the reality from Trump the reality show. Is Trump really the largest real estate developer in New York? Is he really worth billions? Business book

TrumpNation: The Art of Being The Donald, by Timothy L. O'Brien; Warner Business Books, 288 pages, $24.95. O'Brien ditches the chronological approach in favor of chapters devoted to different facets of Trump, both personal (TrumpRoots and TrumpStyle) and professional (TrumpLand and TrumpBroke). Compartmentalizing Trump's endless endeavors — from real estate to casinos to TV — makes sense, but it muddies the timeline of the rise and fall of Trump's fortune. And speaking of fortunes, or perhaps lack thereof, TrumpNation is chock full of examples of Trump's tendency to exaggerate, particularly when it comes to his net worth. According to O'Brien, Forbes magazine's annual Forbes 400 list of America's richest individuals and families and Trump were mutually reinforcing. "The more Donald's verbal fortune rose, the more often he received prominent mention in Forbes," O'Brien writes. "The more often Forbes mentioned him, the more credible Donald's claim to vast wealth became, the easier it was for him to get on the Forbes 400." Each chapter ends with snarky TrumpQuizzes on how to be a billionaire, just like Donald. Some examples: • To prepare yourself for billionairedom, you should have a wealthy father who possesses an enviable list of political contacts, knows how to wring every cent out of a construction project, and takes you under his wing. • To add to your fortune once you've hit the big time as a billionaire, you should convince business travelers on a one-hour flight from New York to Washington that it's worth paying more to have a golden toilet. • To "spin" like a famous billionaire, you should take lots of reporters on your jet and share your innermost thoughts, but say you rarely do this. Some of the most titillating tidbits come straight from O'Brien's own interaction with Trump, who, according to O'Brien, apparently once referred to the reporter as a "total whack job" to Katie Couric on Today but still continued to invite O'Brien on private plane rides to Palm Beach and to media events such as the launch of Trump Suits at Macy's. O'Brien reports that Trump was relaxed, funny and courteous during that plane ride, gossiping about Michael Eisner, Harvey Weinstein, Bill Gates and Richard Branson before settling down with snacks to watch Pulp Fiction. It's a tribute, perhaps, to Trump's accessibility (or ubiquity) that it's easy to picture him reciting Samuel Jackson's tough-guy lines from the movie while "popping Oreos." Trump told O'Brien he was cooperating with him on the book because he enjoyed his company, and because, "It's almost like a competitive thing with me. I almost want to see if you can get Trump." O'Brien frets in the book that if Trump doesn't like TrumpNation, he may lose a pen pal. Apparently, Trump frequently sends press clippings about himself to O'Brien. Among the clips: a copy of an All detergent ad featuring Trump's image on which Trump had helpfully scribbled, "Big Bucks!" and magazines with Post-it Notes marking the pages featuring photos of a scantily clad Melania Knauss, Trump's wife. O'Brien's e-mail box may soon become a bit emptier. There is this postscript: Trump's lawyers claimed there were factual errors in the book and urged reconsideration of publishing it, says vice president and executive editor of Warner Books Rick Wolff, who adds, "O'Brien is one of the top investigative business reporters in the nation, and we certainly stand behind his work." Trump, for his part, says TrumpNation is flawed and points to a recent Forbes magazine article that concludes an estimate of his worth at "$2.7 billion remains, we believe, conservative."