Original subtitles

[Nikki Haskell] I asked him, "Do you wanna run for president?" He goes, "Yes."

You know, some kids wanna be a fireman, some people wanna be a doctor.

Donald always wanted to be president.

But he waited for the right time, everything in life is timing.

[crowd cheers]

[Gene Okerlund] Jam packed here in Atlantic City

for WrestleMania Five at Trump Plaza.

You could cut the electricity with a knife.

We’re going to take you down to ring side for opening ceremonies.

[male reporter] Thank you, Gene. I’m joining Donald J. Trump.

The illustrious Donald Trump.

And, Mr. Trump, this is the second WrestleMania you’ve hosted in a row.

Can you give us some idea what an event of this magnitude

means not only to Atlantic City but to the Trump Organization?

Well, it's brought people from thousands of miles away. It’s been fantastic.

It’s been unbelievable, the traffic, the numbers of people.

We're really honored to be here and honored that you folks joined us.

-It’s a great honor. -Well, thanks again for joining us.

-Let’s go back to you, Gorilla. Thank you. -Thank you.

No holds barred, holy mackerel.

Jesse, I believe the Hulkster’s invading your territory.

How dare him step into Hollywood, Gorilla Monsoon.

Let me tell you something Hulk Hogan.

Hollywood is my domain, but I can see why you're doing it.

You’re doing it, Hogan, because you're gonna lose to the Macho Man.

And when you lose to him you’re gonna have no job, Hulk Hogan.

So, you’re gonna have to come out to Hollywood

try to invade my territory, it ain’t big enough

for the both of us, Hogan, but if you want to come out,

I’ll give Hogan a job in Hollywood. He can drive my Limo.

[male reporter 2] As a professional wrestler

he was known as Jesse "The Body" Ventura.

These days, Ventura is trying a different role.

I’ll accept the nomination for governor right here at my old college,

I think there is no better place for me to do it, and again,

we can win this election, but it’s going to take

every bit of work from every one of you.

[male announcer] Cortina Motorsports coverage of the Pace Motorsports

Monster Truck challenge from the Metrodome.

Little Tiger, that’s a go. Brian out of Coon Rapids, Minnesota.

[crowd cheering]

Yeah, I used to beat Hogan and now I’m going to beat Humphrey and Coleman

and all the rest of them.

-Make me beautiful. -[man chuckles]

That’s what I need.

Jesse was polling at about seven percent.

Then we had two state-wide debates in Minnesota in September.

[sighs]

Mr. Humphrey son of Hubert, attorney general,

Mr. Norm Coleman, mayor of Saint Paul.

Jesse "The Body" Ventura.

What special skills and techniques did you learn as a professional wrestler

that would make you a good governor for the State of Minnesota?

First of all, you lead by example. Jesse Ventura accepts no PAC money,

whatsoever, Jesse Ventura is not owned by special interest groups.

My two opponents can’t say that. They’re not leading by example.

November 3rd is no longer an election, it’s an auction to the highest bidder,

and that’s what you have happening today in the world of politics,

with the professional politicians from both parties.

Trump had a good relationship with Jesse, because Jesse had wrestled

at the Trump Plaza Hotel.

[Gregory] What began as a long shot

third party, spoiler campaign has turned into a serious threat.

Ventura has been climbing steadily in the polls now threatening to get

as much as 20% of the vote here in Minnesota.

And his supporters maintain momentum is on his side.

He’s a straightforward guy, he says what he wants.

Even if people don’t like it, he says what he means.

Saying outrageous things even though people may think it’s stupid to say...

can work for you.

Why don’t you get out of the way, so I can go in?

And every time he took on the press, he got free media.

By challenging the press and calling them media jackals.

I’m talking-- I’m talking to these kids. Not you, I’m not talking to you.

I could care less about you, I’m talking to these young people.

[crowd cheers]

[Barkley] Obviously, Donald Trump was following Jesse’s campaign.

The one question I always had in the back of my mind was,

"But are they going to vote? Are they going to take the time

to come to the polls, register and actually vote?"

-How are you doing? -[man] I'm good. How are you doing?

Very good. Get out and vote November 3rd.

We’re here with one of his supporters.

What do you think about the fact that Jesse has won?

[crowd cheers]

I’m very excited just like everybody else here.

It proves that Minnesota was ready for a change here and we got it.

Ask anyone here, any age, and they'll tell you that they’re tired,

-tired of the status quo. -[crowd cheers]

They want somebody who’s gonna be honest.

And not wait until they find out what the public thinks

before they take a position on their own.

It's 1998 and the American Dream lives on in Minnesota.

'Cause we shocked the world.

[crowd cheers]

[crowd chants] Jesse! Jesse! Jesse!

[Barkley] Donald came to Minnesota in 1999.

He wanted to know what our strategy was, what we did, how we got publicity.

He wasn’t that interested in particular issues, he wasn’t.

He was just interested in becoming president.

[O'Brien] By the '90s...

Donald had used bank loans to go on a big buying binge.

He got casinos, he got hotels, he bid on large real estate projects,

and in almost every case he either overpaid or just didn’t do the math.

And he essentially, I think, entered this sort of wilderness period.

He became a punchline in jokes.

He was not considered a major business figure.

He was considered a celebrity and entertainer.

[applause]

[TV show host] You have another special guest here

I'd like you to introduce at this time.

-[Donald] I do indeed. -I see her.

My super model. Where’s my super model?

Melania. This is Melania Knavs, stand up.

[cheering]

[Weiss] So, I went to a party for one of the buildings,

and Donald came in with a dark-haired model,

and I asked one of the men who I knew from the Trump Organization,

who she was, and he said, "That’s, you know, the model of the week.

You know, every week he has another one."

[Melania] You know what? I don’t see the age difference.

First of all-- I don’t see it at all. I don't know why, but I don't see it.

Because maybe we are both so similar-- The same, you know he’s very young.

-I mean, be honest, is it a turn-on? -Yeah.

-Yeah. -Yes.

-And he can keep that up? [laughs] -He could keep it up, easily.

[O'Brien] There’s this, you know, sort of car crash-esque dynamic

around Trump. What crazy thing will he do next?

Can we also get a picture with you please?

[Donald] Sure.

[camera shutter clicks]

[Weiss] Donald’s really a family guy.

Um. He was very affected by the death of his father.

The funeral was held at the church on 5th Avenue.

It’s not that big a church, but it was absolutely filled to capacity.

[O'Brien] Rather than really speak about his father

and what his father had achieved in life...

Donald uses it as an occasion to speak about his own business successes.

How he wasn’t down.

How he was gonna come back.

[Bush] I wanna talk to you about what’s on my heart

and I intend to be brief.

I’m gonna have a formal announcement about my intention sometime this Fall.

But I’ve come here to tell you today this...

I’m running for president of the United States.

There’s no turning back.

And I intend to be the next president of the United States.

[crowd cheers]

[Stone] I was working out of Trump Tower.

I had a small office working on a number of issues for the Trump Organization.

I am a political operative.

I’m a veteran of ten presidential candidates.

I mean, what people don’t understand in Washington

is to be a presidential candidate, you have to be universally known.

Trump became universally known through the pop culture.

I thought he looked like a president.

He really had no desire...

but I was doing my best to persuade him. I thought that he was up to it.

Real estate developer Donald Trump says he has eyes on a property

in Washington DC on Pennsylvania Avenue, Number 1600.

Trump said today, he’s formed an exploratory committee to decide

whether to run for the Reform Party presidential nomination.

[Buchanan] The Reform Party was a hodgepodge.

It had libertarians in it, it had hard leftists.

It had cultural leftists and traditional conservatives.

Okay, one side please.

This was a long, hard slog,

and I didn’t think he was really a serious candidate.

[Stone] There’s a quality that you can’t easily put in a box.

[Stern] President Donald Trump is on the phone.

[man] Wow.

[Stern] My theory is that Donald is really not running for president.

-[Donald] But I am having a good time. -[Stern] Mr. President.

[Donald laughs] Well, you’ll have to endorse me, Howard.

[Stern] Yes, sure I’ll endorse you.

What else have I got to do? Let me talk to that broad in your bed.

-[Melania exclaims] -[Donald] Do you want me to get her?

[Stern] Let me talk to her. I want to talk to her.

What’s her name again? Melanie?

-[Melania] Hello? -[Stern] Hey.

-[Melania] Hi, how are you? -[Stern] You are so hot.

-[Melania] Oh, thank you. -[Stern] Let me ask you this.

-What are you wearing right now? -[Melania] Er... Not too much.

-[Stern] Are you naked? Are you nude? -[Melania laughs] Almost.

[Stern gasps] Perfect and what do you do, you go over there every night

and you guys have sex?

[Melania] That's true, we have a great, great time.

-[Stern] Every night you have sex? -[Melania] Uh-huh.

At our table this morning is Roger Stone.

Long time involved in politics at a national level.

This year he's helping Donald Trump in his bid for the White House.

When Donald announced that Roger was part of his campaign,

I said, "That little rascal."

I’ve just never cared a whole lot for him because of his motivation

which was strictly power. Power and money.

[Stone] Mr. Trump has said he’ll make a decision at the end of February.

Here’s the fundamental question: Is the pop culture in this country

more influential now than its institutions?

Uh... We’re in a position here where the voters are fed up with both parties.

They’re looking for new choices, and if the American people are presented

a viable different choice they may just take it.

[female news anchor] Political observers this morning are still wondering,

what Donald Trump really wants.

Is he running for president,

or just getting his name and face on television?

I’m not happy with what’s happening in the country, nobody else is either.

The spirit, the whole thing, it’s gone.

It’s terrible. And so, I’m just gonna look at it. I’ll look at it very seriously.

I love what I’m doing, and having a lot of fun what I'm doing.

But we will see what... we will see.

I have an impossible challenge to take Donald Trump seriously.

-You know, that’s why-- -Can you give me one reason why I should?

[female reporter] One other question, one other question,

will you be willing to comment, Mr... [groans]

First of all, the Donald has a few plans for that stodgy

and outdated, old White House, you understand?

Gentlemen, I give you the Trump House.

[audience laughs]

That’s the snotty conventional wisdom.

"He’s not really running." "Oh, yeah?"

They want me first?

Hi, everyone.

Er... If you're not from Minnesota, welcome to Minnesota.

If you’re from Minnesota, hello, good to see ya.

Er...

[Stone] My friend, Governor Jesse Ventura, was then in office in Minnesota.

Jesse ran against both parties. No one thought he could win it.

He was elected.

...doesn't care for the cold weather so, to get him here in Minnesota,

cold weather is a...

That was the reason we made a pilgrimage to Minnesota where the governor met us.

My candidacy was during a time of great economic upswing,

and I would say that right now the key to the Reform Party,

and the key to the Reform Party success, is not...

[Barkley] Donald wanted to do what Jesse did in Minnesota nationwide.

We all went up to a suite in the top of the Northland Inn.

He wanted to know what our strategy was, what we did, how we got publicity.

As I told him, people do not remember what you say.

They remember how you said it.

[audience cheers]

Hold a rally, hold an event, say some stupid things to get press.

Tell people what you think.

You know don’t give them pre-prescribed what you think they wanna hear,

because if they think you’re telling them the truth,

they’re gonna get excited and they’ll support you.

[Donald] Be paranoid.

People... I just hate to say it. It's terrible to say,

but I’ll say it anyway.

People tend to be very vicious.

They will screw you whenever they can. Isn’t it terrible?

I mean, I really don’t know what his core beliefs are, if he has 'em.

I don’t. If I could tell you what they are, I'd tell you, but stay tuned.

Who thinks I should run for president?

[audience cheers]

[cries]

[male reporter] When the year 1999 turns to 2000,

many computers and computer chips around the world

will think it’s 1900 not 2000.

The systems will fail, deliveries of fuel, electricity,

all of those things are at risk.

Because computers, bless their mindless, little electronic hearts,

will not operate with conflicting data.

[O'Brien] Once the century tolled, once we got into the 21st century,

now it was the brave new world. Now is the digital world.

Well, we made it.

The dire predictions of the last several months dissolved

in a potent mix of joy and celebration all around the globe last night.

And that dreaded bug... didn’t bite.

[O'Brien] There’s a tremendous sense of where do we go from here?

This is a campaign that’s gonna empower individuals to realize the American Dream.

We don’t want anybody left behind as we go into the 21st Century.

[speaks Spanish]

[Donald] Well, I think you really have to base it on success.

I've had very extraordinary success.

I’ve done things that people really said couldn’t be done.

I don’t wanna get 21% or 22% of the vote and then end up the following Wednesday

back in my office at Trump Tower saying, "Gee, that was wonderful,

but you know, what does it all mean?" It doesn’t mean anything.

I will make that determination probably by February, March something like that.

And if I think I can win, I might very well run.

[Stone] During Donald’s exploration of the Reform Party nomination,

Patrick J. Buchanan, the former Nixon speech writer,

um, decided that he was going to pursue the nomination.

Today I'm declaring my intention to seek the nomination

of the Reform Party for the presidency of the United States of America.

[audience cheers]

[Russert] Donald Trump, welcome to Meet the Press.

[Donald] Well, thank you very much, Tim.

Pat Buchanan is announcing that he will be a candidate for the presidency

-on the Reform Party. -I just think it’s ridiculous.

[Stone] Pat had just published a book

and his critics said that he was praising Adolf Hitler in the book.

Look he’s a Hitler lover, I guess he’s an anti-Semite.

He doesn’t like the blacks, he doesn’t like the gays.

It’s just incredible that anybody could embrace this guy.

I urge the people in America to read Pat Buchanan's words about Hitler.

He calls Hitler "a monster," he calls him "evil."

Now, I think that Donald Trump owes Pat Buchanan and his family an apology.

On the contrary, he heaps lavish praise on him as a world leader...

Pat’s a friend of mine. I like him very much.

And I encouraged him to run for the nomination.

Because in the back of my mind I said, "Well, Trump needs somebody to beat."

-Donald took to it like a duck to water. -His views are so far off,

and what he wrote in his book is so bad.

He’s a happy warrior. It puts him in a good mood.

Anti-Semitic, anti-black, anti-gay, almost anti-everything.

Certainly, somebody should debate him.

He won’t do very well.

He’s got a certain group of little wacky people on the very far right.

[laughs]

And I’m not even sure it’s the right, they’re just wacky people.

He-- I think he had the time of his life.

I don’t think he’s gonna do very well.

[laughs]

Well, I think we, we did fine. I think Donald eventually just...

dropped out, didn’t he? [laughs]

On Close Up this morning Donald Trump after months of toying with the idea

of running for president on the Reform Party ticket,

the billionaire real estate developer has finally made a decision.

I sat down with Donald Trump and asked him what he's going to do.

I will not be running.

Not running for the nomination of the Reform Party,

or not considering any run for the presidency this time around?

Not considering a run.

-Nothing can change your mind with that? -No, no.

-What’s the big lesson? -I’ve learned the life of a politician.

You know, the other night I was sitting at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida,

watching television and I was watching Gore on a freezing evening

knocking on a door saying, "Hi, I’m the vice president,

I’d love your vote," and he’s freezing.

And I’m watching McCain and I’m watching Bush and they’re all working so hard.

And I said, "You know, it’s not such an easy life they have,"

as I’m sitting in, you know, 75-degree weather.

Can you ever see yourself working that hard?

Uh. It’s a different kind of work. I work up here.

It’s a different kind of work, but it's a real possibility.

-We’re back to the flirtation here. -Well, I always flirt.

-Are you, or aren’t you? -I know one thing,

if I do, I’ll be back on your program.

-Thanks. Good luck. -Have a good time.

[Laney] It’s my honor to introduce to you a man who has earned my trust...

my friend, the president-elect of the United States,

the Honorable George W. Bush.

[audience cheers]

[applause]

-[applause] -Thank you very much.

Trump said to me, "You know, Rog, you can only win as a Republican

or a Democrat, the Independent thing just not gonna work."

He took a pass. It was a good decision. He probably wasn’t ready.

The country wasn’t ready.

[male news anchor] We are having some technical difficulties,

which is totally understandable,

when you try to do you know, ad hoc reporting...

...and getting information to you as fast as we possibly can,

and making sure that its accurate at the same time. So...

Donald Trump is on the line, and we know him

as the man behind lots of real estate in Manhattan.

And of course, Donald, I understand you were actually

a witness to what happened this morning.

I have a window that looks directly at the World Trade Center,

and I saw this huge explosion. I was with a group of people,

and I really couldn’t even believe it.

[woman screams] God, no!

-[crowd screaming] -[indistinct shouting]

[woman 2] No!

[indistinct shouting]

[siren wails]

[Donald] It’s just-- It’s an amazing thing. It's...

This country is different today.

And it’s going to be different than it ever was for many years to come.

[Jim] We are still very much in the world of reality television,

and we’re gonna take another turn, and we’re gonna do it with Donald Trump

and Mark Burnett the creator of Survivor. Good morning, gentlemen.

-Good morning. -Good morning.

First of all, Mr. Trump, I know this is going to be a story

about business, called The Apprentice. Would I wanna work for you?

-Er... Possibly not... -[Jim laughs]

...but you never know, Jim. I mean, only if you wanna be rich.

The fact is that we’re gonna be doing a show that’s, I think, gonna be really,

really exciting and it’s gonna be very tough.

It’s not gonna be a little, lovey-dovey show.

It’s gonna be tough. And it's gonna show how tough

the business world really is, and I think the show’s gonna be great,

and hopefully educational, 'cause I’m really into that.

[O'Brien] I mean, there were people lined up...

around corners for Apprentice casting calls.

People were there all day.

Donald Trump is a poor person’s idea of what a rich person does.

His apartment looks like it was designed by, you know, Louis the 14th on acid.

Gold leaf, marble, shiny things.

[man] It's a little late. We would probably start...

[O'Brien] I was interested in doing a book that tried to explain how The Apprentice

redefined him in the imagination of tens of millions of Americans

that didn’t have a long memory of the '80s and the early '90s.

A new generation of aspiring entrepreneurs.

[indistinct chatter]

How are we doing, fellas?

I think this cannot be understated.

His image is turbo charged by The Apprentice.

Think about it for a moment. Network TV...

His makeup is perfect. Every hair’s in place.

He’s in the high back chair, making decisions.

-Sit down. -Thank you, Mr. Trump.

You’ve gotta be careful.

-I will. -'Cause you are a wild man.

You’ll do great or you’ll be a total disaster.

I haven’t figured it out yet.

[O'Brien] I was straightforward with him, I told him I was considering

writing a book about him, I would like him to participate.

I think I’d barely gotten the sentence out of my mouth

before he said, "Sure. Of course, I’ll do that."

This is at Mar-a-Lago after Donald and Melania and I had had dinner.

On this particular night after dinner, he wanted to go out to the pool

where people were having cocktails. He doesn’t drink,

but we went out to the cocktail party by the pool.

And he told the DJ to really turn the music up as loud as he could.

And he leans over with these giant speakers

blaring out rock music, and he said,

"You know, when I came to Palm Beach nobody wanted me here.

Well, they know I’m here now.

And I love to play this music as loud as I can because I know

that all of these snotty so-and-sos who live in Palm Beach hate it."

He has a constant need to be loved...

and yearns for the establishment to say, "You’re one of us."

But I don’t think he’s someone, who at that time or ever,

was going to feel the establishment accepted him.

He’s deeply, deeply insecure...

often in surprising ways.

[indistinct chatter]

[camera shutter clicking]

[Weiss] He loved The Apprentice.

When the ratings came out

they were phenomenal, went through the roof.

He got great ratings.

That was the show that everyone watched.

[male photographer] Seems like I've seen that before.

[female photographer] Right here, Mr. Trump. Right in front.

-Ready? -[female photographer] Ready.

[camera shutters clicking]

[Weiss] It was crazy. The people absolutely loved him.

They waited in line for hours.

They wanted Donald. They loved him.

[female photographer 2] Mr. Trump, this way please.

[male photographer 2] Up top, Governor.

[camera shutters clicking]

[O'Brien] The Apprentice gave him a second chance.

He suddenly became the center of an American conversation

about what is business success and what is wealth.

So, I don’t know, some people billing this as the wedding of the century.

I don’t know if I’d go that far, but tell us a little bit

about the Mar-a-Lago resort where the festivities are gonna be taking place.

He spent seven million dollars on 24-karat gold sheets

that he encrusted in the walls and the moldings and all this stuff.

He’s got gold piping’s in the bathrooms, he’s got green apple onyx on the floors...

[crowd cheers]

[Weiss] The invitation was, you know, no cell phones, pagers, beepers.

They wanted privacy for the couple and no other pictures coming out

because I guess they were sold to People Magazine.

Anywhere you turned there was either somebody from New York,

or a politician or an entertainer.

I saw Netanyahu. He was there, and he met with them.

And Hillary and Bill, of course, were there also at the time.

They were only too eager to be there.

[male reporter] Congratulations, Randall.

-[female reporter] Congratulations. -That's cool. Good for you.

So, what was it like for you to hear those two beautiful words coming

from the Donald’s mouth on live television.

I have to say, after hearing him say "You’re fired" so many times over,

to hear “You’re hired” was actually a dream come true.

And an honor, an honor.

[Pinkett] I remember the day I arrived at Trump Tower

for my first day of my apprenticeship.

Donald was seated at his desk in his office at Trump Tower.

And he had this stack of magazines and newspapers on his desk.

Each of them had a Post-it note, a little yellow note inside of it.

And he would grab one off of the stack, and he’d put it on his desk,

and he’d open to the Post-it note and he’d read.

And he’d close it and grab the next one and I’m thinking, "What...

Is this current events? Is this stocks?"

So, I leaned over as he’s going through this ritual,

and he didn’t stop it while we were talking, he continued with it.

And I see that each of the Post-it notes

was placed in the magazine or newspaper to an article about Donald.

That Donald was basically reading about himself. [laughs]

And that someone’s job is to gather up all these materials,

I suspect on a daily basis, for Donald to read about Donald,

'cause Donald loves Donald. [laughs]

Donald runs the company with a very tight-knit inner circle, very tight.

Primarily his children.

[Donald] Don and Ivanka, you both went to the Wharton School of Finance,

you were both terrific students,

why work for me? Why not go someplace else?

I actually did go someplace else for a year, and ultimately

sort of the sirens’ call of working on your projects drew me back.

They're the sexiest projects out there, the best projects out there.

And honestly you know being in this field I couldn’t wanna work for anyone else.

What’s the best lesson you’ve learned so far?

Again, going through the construction sites

and seeing what you see, and being able to remember and then translate it,

when we’re on those sites ourselves perhaps, without you has been totally

invaluable, and that’s really the subtle intricacies

of what real estate is. The ability to see what others can’t and create

what others don’t have the ability to ever envision.

Thank you. Ivanka?

My response would have been consistent with Don’s.

He trusts them, they trust him. There’s a level of loyalty

that’s beyond just business, but rather the blood relationship

that they have, and I believe he looks to them really,

as among his most trusted confidantes.

For me, personally, what I admire the most about you,

people say you’re a great marketer. You’re great at putting

your name out there. You’re a great brander...

[Pinkett] Ivanka seemed to be the one who was most prominent...

amongst the children.

I think he... turns to the most.

Donald’s philosophy in business is very adversarial.

He believes that, "For me to win, somebody else has to lose."

The culture of the organization very much reflects that.

In 20 years from now, may-- Who knows where I’ll be?

Where do you think the Trump Organization will be? And where will you be?

I think we will be right here and the Trump Organization,

hopefully, will be everywhere, globally, and we’ll continue to grow it.

Take what you made, such a phenomenal brand,

and continue to extend that. Really make it just a family company.

[female news anchor] Good morning, everybody.

More global worries over the possible US recession.

Capitol Hill lawmakers are preparing to hammer out

a US economic stimulus plan today. While overseas markets

tumbled this morning for a second day.

[female reporter] How did this happen? Some would say greed

and too much risk taking, leaving many to wonder

whether Americans can trust the system to keep their money safe.

[crowd cheers]

[Obama] Hello, Chicago.

If there is anyone out there...

who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible.

Who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time.

Who still questions the power of our democracy.

Tonight is your answer.

[crowd cheers]

[Van Susteren] Donald, nice to have you join us.

And Donald we have a president-elect...

er... President-Elect Obama. He faces an incredible challenge with this economy,

but what should he be doing right now?

[Donald] Well, this is a hell of a way for him to celebrate his first day

with this massive, almost crash of the stock market, so...

this is one hell of a welcoming.

Welcome to be president, Mr. President. It's certainly, very exciting.

His speech was great last night. The United States is not thought of

the way it once was, and hopefully Obama, President Obama,

will do a great job and he will bring that respect back, I hope so.

Thank you, God bless you and may God bless the United States of America.

[Costanzo] I’m Peter Constanzo, and in the mid-2000s

I was working as an online marketing director

for a publishing company.

When the publishing company I worked for had an opportunity

to publish a book by Donald Trump...

I kept being asked, "What could we do different?"

What could we do that Mr. Trump hasn’t done before?

Finally, tonight, "What are you doing?"

That simple, four-word question

has sparked a new internet phenomenon called Twitter. Twitter is hot.

Twitter was really pretty new at the time, so I explained it to him.

This was a way to directly communicate to his fans.

At the time, it was not just gonna be fans of the book

but fans of the Celebrity Apprentice or anything.

I think that’s when he started to see.

"Oh, okay." And he sat there, and he thought about it.

He said "I like it, I like it. Let’s do it." And that was it.

[notification chime]

There were all kinds of things you know, people just saying, you know, "Mr. Trump,

you’re the man," or you know, "You’re the greatest business man ever."

You know, things like that.

[notification chime]

[notification chime]

[notification chime]

[notification chime]

But you could see that there was this growing interest

in Mr. Trump running for president.

They're saying how they think he’s a great business man.

And he would be great for the country and could he please run for president.

[notification chime]

Now people had a direct way of letting him know they wanted

to see him try and go for this, this new role.

People got comfortable using it and now, all of a sudden,

people had this direct channel with Donald Trump.

[notification chimes continue]

It just started to grow and started to grow and grow.

I think he understood there’s a power in that.

And... it can be dangerous if you’re not thoughtful.

[male reporter] For several months,

the issue has been hotly debated on internet blogs.

Does Barack Obama meet the requirement in the constitution

that only a natural born citizen is eligible to be president?

[female reporter] The birther conspiracy movement essentially dovetails with...

some of the right-wing hatred of Obama as president on the basis of his race.

This idea of his foreignness essentially standing in for people’s discomfort

with the fact that he’s African American.

From the perspective of the conspiracy theorist

it’s hard not to see a racial element to this.

[Stone] Donald called me on a Friday...

and he said, "Have you read about this stuff?" I said, "Yeah.

"I read most of it." "What do you think?"

I said, "I don't know it’s interesting, it’s certainly odd.

I’m not accusing the president of anything."

There were just a lot of odd factoids there.

[siren wails]

[Nunberg] First time I met Donald Trump, I was five years old at WrestleMania Five.

[Gene Okerlund] Jam packed here in Atlantic City

for WrestleMania Five at Trump Plaza.

You could cut the electricity with a knife...

I’ll give Hogan a job in Hollywood, he can drive my Limo.

[Nunberg] We were sitting right behind Trump

and he had us moved to the first row in another section.

And it was actually funny because I ended up getting on the video

for WrestleMania with my father. We were doing the Bush Wacker.

[announcer] The Bush Wacker!

[Monsoon] Well, they've got a style, all of their own, Jesse.

[Ventura] You know-- Gorilla, I noticed you the other night

walking through the casino looking like that...

[Nunberg] Come 2011, he was going to speak

at the Conservative Political Action Committee.

These are grassroots conservatives. These are committed conservatives.

[male reporter] Are you here essentially to be here on behalf of the group GOProud?

Or are you here for Donald Trump?

Are you here because you’re running for president?

I’m here because I’m Donald Trump. I was asked to be here.

I have a lot of respect for the group. I’m a Republican. Let’s see what happens.

And there are a lot of people telling me. "Why is he coming here?

Who wants him here? What a joke."

[audience cheers]

And he starts speaking.

And touched on the birth certificate issue.

This was the first time, I believe this was the first time

he talked about it publicly, for sure.

[applause]

Our current president came out of nowhere, came out of nowhere.

In fact, I’ll go a step further. The people that went to school with him,

they don’t even know-- They never saw him. They don’t know who he is. Crazy.

[cheering and applause]

He’s a wonderful guy, he’s a nice man, but there was no record,

nobody knew who the hell he was.

He’s now our president, he’s our president.

[applause]

[cheering]

[indistinct chatter]

[Nunberg] After he left, I called Roger up and I was like,

"Roger, I’ve never seen anything like this."

Like there was real energy.

This was really amazing. Like, I’d never seen something like this.

-Did they like it? -They did.

-You got them going. -You got them fired up, sir.

Okay. Bye, everybody.

I said to Roger, "Do you really think he’s going to be interested in running?"

And Roger said "50/50".

[man 1] Do us a favor, please run for president. Mr. Trump. Please.

-Please. -[man 2] Please.

[Donald] Come here. Get a picture.

Donald Trump is running first or second in a lot of the early polls.

He is among the best-known names in this country, in part,

because that name is all over the place, on everything from buildings

to TV shows on this network.

I also pressed Trump about the birther issue.

Which has gotten him traction in the polls.

And he didn’t answer the question.

All this while he still says he’s mulling an official run.

Trump is able through his celebrity to give the whole issue broader exposure.

What is this with the birth certificate obsession?

-Did he ask to see yours when you met him? -Well, I needed to put mine anyway,

because if you wanna become an American citizen you need to put

-the birth certificate. -Right.

-I have a birth certificate from Slovenia. -All right. Well, let’s talk

-about your jewelry. -Yes.

All I want to do is see this guy’s birth certificate.

[crowd cheers]

Trump hammers it. Now that’s very, very, politically incorrect in the culture.

Trump zooms to number one in the Gallup poll leading Mitt Romney.

I really believe there’s a birth certificate.

Why-- Look she’s smiling. Why doesn’t he show his birth certificate?

-You know what? -No-one has ever asked George Bush

-or said to George Bush, why-- -No.

But George Bush was born in this country.

[Goldberg] It’s not 'cause he’s black, is it?

Let him show-- It has nothing to do with that.

Okay, because I never heard any white president asked to be shown

-the birth certificate. -[Donald] Everybody does.

When you become a President of the United States of America...

[applause]

...you know that he’s American. I’m sorry that’s BS.

[crowd cheers]

[Stone] The elites may not like it...

but the voters of the Republican Party sure like it.

[male news anchor] Earlier this morning,

the White House released President Obama’s long-form

birth certificate in order to quiet his critics, he said he wanted America

to stop being distracted and he went to the White House briefing room

just moments ago to address the issue.

I know that there’s going to be a segment of people for which,

no matter what we put out,

this issue will not be put to rest.

But I’m speaking to the vast majority of the American people.

We do not have time for this kind of silliness.

We’ve got better stuff to do.

I’ve got better stuff to do.

We’ve got big problems to solve.

And I’m confident we can solve them, but we’re going to have to focus on them.

Not on this. Thanks very much, everybody.

[male reporter] Mr. President, should Republicans-- Republican...

I was just informed, while on the helicopter,

that our president has finally released a birth certificate.

I'd want to look at it, but I hope it’s true.

So, that we can get on too much more important matters.

We can talk about China ripping off this country, we can talk about OPEC

doing numbers on us like nobody has ever done before.

We can get on to issues, and hopefully when I sit down with interviews,

people don’t start talking about birth certificates,

birth certificates, like they’ve been doing.

So, I feel I’ve accomplished something really, really important.

[Rivera] The last day of April, 2011.

Saturday night.

In the White House Correspondents' Dinner.

I was sitting right there at the head table.

[Nunberg] Donald Trump won the birth certificate issue.

But pop culture, they loved Barack Obama. Barack Obama is a great idea to them.

He’s a great president.

You know, and Trump really gave it to him.

I talked to him that day he’s like "What do you think about it?" and I said,

"Look, you’re getting good publicity here, you know.

We’ve got AP, we’ve got Reuters, we’ve got CBS.

We’ve got all these new stories."

But there was a period there behind the scenes where he was apprehensive.

[Obama] My fellow Americans...

[audience cheers]

Mahalo.

[laughter]

[chuckles]

It is wonderful to be here at the White House Correspondents' Dinner.

What a week.

[laughter]

As some of you heard, the state of Hawaii released...

my official long-form birth certificate.

But no one is happier, no one is prouder to put this birth certificate matter

to rest than the Donald.

[laughter]

And that’s because he can finally get back to focusing

on the issues that matter.

Like... did we fake the moon landing?

[laughter]

What really happened in Roswell?

[laughter]

And where are Biggie and Tupac?

[laughter and applause]

All kidding aside, obviously, we all know about your credentials

and breadth of experience.

-[Nunberg] That was raw. -[Obama] No, seriously just recently

in an episode of Celebrity Apprentice, at the steakhouse...

[Nunberg] Deeply hurtful to Donald Trump.

[Obama] ...team...

-[Nunberg] Hugely embarrassing. -[Obama] So, ultimately, you didn’t blame

Lil John, or Meatloaf...

[laughter]

You fired Gary Busey.

[laughter]

And these are the kind of decisions that would keep me up at night.

[laughter]

Say what you will about Mr. Trump.

He certainly would bring some change to the White House.

See what we got up there.

[laughter]

[Nunberg] Didn’t say a word. He left early.

The people in that room at the White House Correspondents' Dinner

were making fun of Donald Trump.

I believe, really, this was the night...

that set him on the path to the presidency.

CNN projects that Barrack Obama

will be re-elected President of the United States.

He will remain in the White House for another four years,

because we project he will carry the state of Ohio.

[Romney] I have just called President Obama

to congratulate him on his victory.

His supporters and his campaign also deserve congratulations.

I wish all of them well, but particularly the president, the first lady,

and their daughters.

[audience cheers]

Trump would say, "What’s wrong with this guy? He’s just not a fighter.

He just has no instinct for the jugular."

[Romney] Thank you so much. Thank you.

[Stone] Almost immediately after the election, in which Romney loses,

Donald has his lawyers go to the US Trade Mark Office

and he trademarks the phrase "Make America Great Again."

And he says, "And this time nothing’s going to stop me.

This time we’re really doing it." And I said, "Well, it’s four years away."

He says, "You’ll see."

[indistinct chatter]

How’s this? Good? Come on, you’re fired.

[female reporter] Right, just tell me when you are up to him.

Well, we’re opening this great club house, as you know, it’s been--

[cameraman] Not yet.

[female reporter] Okay, let’s just start that again.

[cameraman] Mr. Trump, just bring your left shoulder

-into me slightly. -Left?

-[cameraman] Yeah. -This way?

[cameraman] Yeah. Wee bit more.

Wee bit, no just turn your left shoulder into me, please.

Okay, come on, let’s go.

[reporter] You’re going to make an announcement on June 16th

about potentially running for president.

Can you give us a glimpse, a sneak peak into what that might be?

That was so beautifully put. You did such a good job with that.

Well, I will.

I will be announcing something on June 16th at Trump Tower in New York,

and I think people are going to be very, very happy

with that announcement, because the United States

is not doing well, and it should be doing...

[Stone] He called from Europe and he said, "Put the announcement on hold,

I’m not sure I’m going to do it."

[Nunberg] We didn’t have time for Donald Trump’s perennial teasing bullshit.

He was getting some cold feet.

He had a lot more on the line than anybody else did.

All these big politicians-- They need to do is they run.

Right? They raise other people’s money.

They do this. This is what they do.

[applause]

[reporter] Just really quickly just-- Thanks very much.

[Stone] Trump is now 70 years old. This would most likely be his last shot...

-[cameraman] ...Lucy, that'll be great. -Okay, go ahead.

[Stone] ...if he decided that he was going to pursue the nomination.

Is that okay, no? Did you get enough?

[Stone] We had gone round and round about the date of his announcement.

The content of what he was going to say,

what broad themes he was going to lay out in his campaign...

was entirely up to him.

[Nunberg] Twitter was our focus group. Twitter.

It really was, it was a-- If he got--

I would look at the amount of retweets he got

and he would see the issue.

If the issue was popular. So, if you look at the policy--

political policy things, my barometer was over 100 retweets.

If that was 100 retweets it was an issue that we were winning on.

They said, "What if we propose that he says what I’m going to build a wall

at the border and I’ll get Mexico to pay for it?"

It’ll be like a licensing deal, and nobody builds like Trump.

So, I told it to Roger.

And Roger called up Trump and Trump loved it.

Started saying, "I’ll build a wall."

You know, "We’ll build a wall." And that’s how the wall came about.

[notification chime]

[reporters clamoring]

[male reporter] Are you going to run for president?

[man] Please run. I’ll support you all day.

You are the truth, you are the golden era...

For the elites who cover politics, it’s obvious when Donald Trump

flirts with running for president in 1988, or 2000, or even 2012.

He’s never really going to run.

If I couldn’t win, if I felt I couldn’t win I wouldn’t run.

I absolutely would not run.

They said, "It’s a publicity stunt. He’s only doing it to burnish his brand."

I’m really only going to do this, Tim, if I can win.

In fact, how many times can he recycle this same idea

that he’s going to run for president, when we all know he isn’t.

And if I think I can win, I might very well run.

What happened to those people that said that?

-[female reporter] Are you going to run? -We’re looking at it very seriously.

[Donald] Ladies and gentlemen.

I am officially running...

[crowd cheers]

...for president of the United States.

And we are going to make our country great again.

The world laughs at us.

They won’t be laughing if I’m president.