Q: How did you select this cast of Celebrities?
Donald Trump: Well, it’s very interesting because so many people want to be on the show now. After the first success and then the Joan Rivers success of those two shows, celebrities just want to be on the show. I would say we were probably turning down six or seven people per spot. We wanted some athletes, we wanted some actors, actresses. We have models, we have wrestlers, we have a beautiful wrestler and a big wrestler, Goldberg and Maria. Maria’s a beautiful woman who’s a wrestler with the
Q: What can celebrities do to set themselves apart to you?
Donald Trump: Well, they really are in it to win it. That’s one thing I’ve seen and I can tell you from seasons one, two and from the regular Apprentice. People really want to win. Every once in a while you’ll have a quitter, but it doesn’t happen often. I think the reason that they do and even setting apart is the level of intensity they feel for their charity. Unlike regular Apprentice where somebody works for me for a pretty good salary for a year, this one the money goes to charity. Last year millions of dollars were raised for charity. I can tell you this year more money is being raised for charity than even last year. Everybody really has a charity that they love. Some are foundations that they’ve set up themselves long in advance of the show. They’ve been with them for years so they really fight, the intensity is there and I think maybe more so because of the fact that it is a charity that they’re fighting for.
Q: What kind of business prospects does a guy like Goldberg have?
Donald Trump: First of all, he’s very capable and he’s a very tough guy. He’s not easy to get along with, that I can tell you. I don’t mean just tough physically. He’s tough in a lot of other ways. I have a lot of respect for him but he’s a very difficult kind of a guy.
Q: Tough in the boardroom too?
Donald Trump: Yeah, he’s a tough guy. He’s a tough cookie, both physically and mentally. He was strong, very strong.
Q: You don’t get intimidated.
Donald Trump: No, I don’t. Look, I understand life. Hey, we’re here for a certain period of time and that’s the end. What’s to be intimidated about? Goldberg is certainly a guy that can intimidate people.
Q: Did you go harder on Rod Blagojevich because he’s a politician?
Donald Trump: Well, I can tell you with him it was just the beginning because it’s pretty wild what happens. He’s pretty wild. It’s going to be very interesting, that I can tell you. The cast has turned out to be amazing. I’ll tell you as I said about Bret [Michaels]. Bret really was very much different than I envisioned him. I didn’t envision him bad or good. I didn’t know what to expect but I can tell you, he turned out to be a very tough competitor and Blagojevich likewise. I won’t say if Bret lasts, how long he lasts, but he was also very different than I thought. He’s a tough, tough cookie and I was a little surprised by it. He was really strong and very, very smart. With all that, he may have been fired very early on because a lot of smart, strong people make mistakes and when you make mistakes, you get fired. He turned out to be very good, excellent.
Q: Is Sharon Osbourne the front runner?
Donald Trump: Well, she’s very smart. She’s very strong, very strong minded and wills. You see what she did with Ozzy because Ozzy’s a great talent in terms of music but I guarantee he wouldn’t be where he is today without Sharon and he understands that better than anybody. So she’s obviously a great character on the show. Beyond that I can’t talk too much because I can’t tell you how she does obviously, but she has been a great character on the show, there’s no question about it.
Q: Are you surprised to find you have things in common with people like Bret Michaels?
Donald Trump: Well, you know, I’ll tell you a terrible story. Years and years ago, my parents had a lot of problems with me because I was rather rebellious like Bret. They sent me to an institute. I think it was called The Johnson Institute and it was an aptitude institute to learn what you do the best. So Bret will be shocked to hear this. I was like seven or eight. They gave aptitude tests and they would do things like play a note on a piano. Then five minutes later play five different notes and which note matched up to the first note, things like that. The thing that my aptitude was the highest at which floored my father, he couldn’t believe it, was music. My highest aptitude was music. So I was floored by it but my father was totally floored by it. I’m not sure he was thrilled either if you want to know the truth. So I guess that’s something we might have in common, because Bret obviously has a great aptitude for music. He’s been great at what he does.
Q: Are you a Poison fan?
Donald Trump: Yeah, I am. We’ll go and have a good time. I hope I get invited but I am, absolutely.
Q: Darryl Strawberry has been a winner despite his public battles. What surprised you about him?
Donald Trump: Well, he has been a winner and what surprised me is how solid he is. I said, “Darryl, I’m going to ruin your reputation because you’re much more solid.” I knew Darryl because I was a Met fan and I watched The Mets and I’d watch him hit a home run 10 feet off the ground that would go into the stands. Obviously you’re a baseball fan or you wouldn’t be asking this question. You know the power he had and the potential he had, and a lot of it was wasted because of some of his things, but he still had a great career. I think he won four World Series for the different teams. Darryl turns out to be a great guy and a great character and a tough cookie. I’m not surprised because any time you have these world champion athletes, they’re not there just because of the physical, there’s also something special.
Q: How does Cyndi Lauper do on the show?
Donald Trump: She’s become so hot now because Cyndi’s best friend is Lady Gaga who’s the crazy hottest person out there, right? Whose show I saw recently and it was phenomenal but Lady Gaga loves Cyndi Lauper and they’re together all the time. She’s a big factor on the show. She is very tough also. I’m not revealing anything. I never would have thought of Cyndi as being that tough. She is as tough as you’ll ever fan and the accent is very deceiving. She is so tough that it’s really almost unbelievable at times. That’s a little bit different than I would have thought to be honest.
