Before starting we’ll again state that we were not first to predict the rise of Trump, Scott Adams and our good friend Mike Cernovich posted on the topic much quicker than we did. We *will* however take credit for laying out several thousand dollars on a major bet on him winning (late last year) so we are now heavily biased with odds clearly stacked in our favor… as the spread thins faster than a sexy girl with a cocaine addiction. Before jumping into how his brand will change, we will answer a few questions and readers can review Part 1 if needed.
Frequent Trump Related Questions
1) How Did Wall Street Feel About Trump? As everyone knows by now we exited the Street earlier this year, but, we do know that Donald Trump was absolutely hated by Wall Street in general. At least that is the vibe… so that was an easy answer.
2) Are you actually Pro-Trump? Yes. Donald Trump is a successful business man who has more skills than Hilary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and Lyin Ted Cruz combined. Anyone who read the capitalization table on his company (before he took his share of the family business) or looked into his actual trademarks would realize he is an enormous success and has been planning for this election for several years. Besides, a billionaire who is ~70 years old is not going to gain much by “ruining” the USA economy. A guy who has been obsessed with success since age 25 is not going to suddenly burn down the entire country… unless of course you’re an unattractive Anti-Trump hater.
3) Are We Upset by His Language? No. Anyone who cares more about what someone “says” instead of what they *do* is an imbecile. This is a classic game in business. Typically, the people who are extremely nice and happy go lucky all the time in front of you…. are sharpening the knife to stab you in the back. Never trust a person who says nothing but nice things to you all the time.
Anyone who is afraid or upset by Trump’s use of language has lived a pathetic and privileged life. Much better to talk the way you would normally talk than to tip toe around everything like a dork. It’s not mean if it is true.
4) Do We Think He is “Thin Skinned”? This is a *resounding* no. Anyone who has managed to create a billion dollar business is not thin skinned. He has made hundreds upon thousands of really tough decisions and has undoubtedly made some mistakes as well.
He is going to fight back every single time a reporter writes negative articles about him because he has *thick skin*. Only a castrated loser would allow someone to openly trample on his campaign. Only a weak or “thin skinned” person would allow all the negative press to run with no repercussions.
5) Do You Think He Will Make a Good President? Irrelevant. The president has very little power in the grand scheme of things. The goal is to elect Trump and rid ourselves of politically correct culture and absolutely outrageous attacks on Free Speech. It should be illegal to be fired if you are simply a Donald Trump supporter but that is sadly *not the case* in the United States today.
With the extremely aggressive answers to the common questions lets just move along and see how he will easily become the President through simple branding and image changes.
Imaging Changes Going Forward
Commander-in-Chief: As we get closer to the general election the phrase will be used more often to emphasize that we need *leadership*. We’re next to 100% certain everyone has seen this hilarious ad created by the Trump campaign. Fortunately, Trump will have very little trouble positioning himself as stronger than Hillary Clinton. He has a much longer and better track record than her and has absolutely *no* ties with special interest groups. He will highlight over and over again that he is self funding his campaign. How can you be a leader if you’re begging for donations?
Family Angle: The family first angle is just beginning. Going forward he will bring more and more family members into the campaign, particularly his children and wife. Lets go ahead and start with his kids.
To the untrained eye, the only take away is that he is receiving support from the Utah Speaker of the house. The real issue is actually at the end of the tweet. He was sold by Donald J. Trump Junior. Expect this trend to continue because he will begin pitting his family against the Clinton family. This is a no lose situation as none of the previous arguments against Trump will work.
Here are some basic examples:
1) “Donald Trump is a mean man who didn’t bother raising his kids and just sent money”. This argument is now dead. If we look at what each of his kids have said publicly both now and more importantly *over the past 10 years prior to this event* you will find that his kids love and respect him. The argument that he is a terrible father dies over night.
2) “He got two divorces!”. This argument will also die. His current wife has shown glowing support for Donald Trump and even his *ex-wives* have said Trump has a good chance of winning with no material negative comments. Good luck.
You now have a man who has typical personal flaws, (reminder 50% of marriages end in divorce and even more than 50% have considered divorce) nothing to complain about. And. The average American is now asking in the back of their heads… Bill Clinton who cheated on his own wife… Is he actually supportive of Hillary on the inside?
Second question. Do we want a woman running the country who couldn’t even stand up for herself? What type of message does that send to the world.
3) “He’s a misogynist!”. This argument will die instantly as well. His daughters have been as successful, arguably even *more* successful than his sons. How can a guy be a misogynist when he has clearly helped create a successful family that includes both men and women?
We are sure there are a few high level personal issues that people will dislike, however, it is clear his family can be leveraged to dismiss the majority of the issues.
Anti-Establishment: As expected, he has tripled down on his anti-establishment rhetoric. The GOP is making an enormous mistake by making comments that suggest “The GOP decides who gets the nomination not the general public”. By phrasing the race as the Establishment vs. the People… the frame is now broken. He will continue down this framework until the GOP finally acknowledges he will be their best chance to defeat Hillary Clinton.
More Presidential: Going forward, the debates will become less brash and he will turn to a more even keel disposition. Trump certainly has the temperament to manage his emotions, otherwise he wouldn’t be a successful multi-billionaire. Managing emotions is the only skill needed to succeed in life since everything is sales. He is a top tier salesman. In short? He is going to down shift his tone to become more mild mannered but will continue to punch back hard if hit with negative press.
Decrease in Financial Rhetoric: You’ve probably noticed, he has toned down his comments surrounding how rich he is. This is to increase his mass appeal. He used his net worth to gather attention from the media which they took as bait (hook line and sinker) and stole the headlines. It is an irrelevant part of his campaign at this point and will be de-emphasized unless Mitt Romney wants to continue embarrassing himself with his comments.
Long story short? Donald Trump is actually running classic “game” on America. What does this mean? It means he is following the general path to success: 1) Grab headlines with some extreme ideas, 2) use social media to dig up the truth, 3) when attention is grabbed close a hard sell, 4) when the sale is near completion switch gears to your viability long-term. We’re undoubtedly in step four of the process. The general population is now leaning to Trump they are just not sold on him from a “warmth” perspective. This will change as he becomes more even keel and shows a softer side.
Don’t worry though… He will continue to throw punches back if ever attacked by the media.
