Trump Survives Brush With Disaster Famous Deal-Maker Follows Instincts, Savors Comeback

Donald Trump was in his element. Striding through the garish Trump Taj Mahal casino here, he was shaking hands with awestruck customers and gabbing non-stop with a reporter who was struggling to keep up, when he stopped at a table of intense poker players and, like a seasoned entertainer, stole the show.

“Hey, now here’s the man you want to beat,” Trump said, raising a smile from a dour man in a black shirt, black beard and black fedora whom, he later acknowledged, he had never met before.

“O.K., who’s winning here?”

To which several rapt players called out, “You are!”

Indeed, Donald Trump, as he reminds anyone who will listen, is on the winning track again - sort of. He is immensely wealthy, the banks that nearly pushed him into bankruptcy are off his back, investors are lending him money again. But, as even he acknowledges, there have been some critical changes in the single-minded formulas that had once been his trademark.

A man who made a religion of collecting assets like trophies, insisting on owning them outright, is now making much of his money by working with partners, effectively renting his name to projects and earning millions as a construction manager and marketing whiz while putting up little equity. He is exploiting more than ever the Trump brand name.

His three Atlantic City casinos, on which he had bet his empire at its low point five years ago, are now thriving - but as part of a publicly held company, Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts Inc., in which he will soon own 40 percent. There are even persistent rumors that the casinos might be for sale, with analysts warning that the Trump company is not big enough to compete in a fast-consolidating industry.

And the famous rhetoric, still laced with hyperbole, has changed a bit. Trump, who recently turned 50, is back in large measure because of market forces outside his control, and he is disarmingly frank about it.

“It was all luck,” he said after dinner at one of his restaurants, Roberto’s, where he ordered spaghetti and meatballs. As is his habit, he drank no alcohol and, fearing germs, wiped his hands frequently after mixing with the crowds.

“I could have been wrong,” he added with a shrug. “But I was right.”

After a financial debacle involving a string of ill-considered acquisitions, a collapsing real estate market and an accumulation of more than $5 billion in debt - nearly $1 billion of which he had guaranteed personally - Trump has lost or sold many prized assets, from a 282-foot yacht to an airline to the Plaza Hotel.

Last year he was even outbid by M&T Pretzel Inc. for the right to operate the Wollman and Lasker skating rinks in Central Park.

But many people around him say it is all for the better. This classic loner, whose supposed deal-making genius created and then almost destroyed a fortune of nearly $2 billion, is now described by an obviously pleased aide as “a businessman, a real businessman.” He is capitalizing more and more on his skills in navigating New York City’s real estate regulations, using other people’s money and working with partners.

“That’s what I think he ought to be doing from now on,” said Nicholas L. Ribis, chief executive of the gambling company and an important adviser. “He’s got skills that are worth a lot to other people. It’s not so bad to have partners and to share the risk.”

For instance, he is expected to earn as much as $50 million for guiding the refurbishment and sale of apartments in the Trump International Hotel and Tower, the old Gulf and Western Building at Columbus Circle. But he had not owned the building and did not pay for the redevelopment.

He retains a 30 percent interest in the huge Riverside South development in New York City, but he will essentially be managing the construction of the 18 buildings and seeking regulatory approvals for the Asian investors who control the site, while putting up no cash.

Trump sold his stake in the Plaza Hotel. But he retains a 10 percent interest, which may grow to 20 percent, in the future conversion of some units into condominiums and the construction of more units on top of the landmark building. But he will not pay for the conversion.

Trump seemed to be speaking to these changes when he showed a visitor the old arena at the Taj Mahal and described a plan to transform the 88,000-square-foot space into a casino below an aerial circus.

“We’re going to have to have nets,” Trump said, “but you know, it would be more exciting if you had that little extra element of thrill, of not knowing if one of the trapeze guys was going to go splat!”

He has, however, learned to live with those safety nets.

At the heart of the new Trump is gambling. Trump had owned 100 percent of three deeply troubled casinos, drowning in debt. Now, after a series of compromises and bankruptcy filings, he is emerging with a 40 percent interest in Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts.

Even after the stock market’s recent tumble, the stake is valued at nearly $200 million. The shares make up much of Trump’s net worth - though he still privately owns properties like Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue and Mar-a-Lago, the Palm Beach, Fla., mansion he has turned into a club.

But he is facing the roughest competition since he got into gambling. In effect, he is back on his feet just in time to see the rest of the big Las Vegas players speeding ahead, particularly on his home turf.

“The bigger companies are getting bigger and stronger in his market,” said Jason Ader, an analyst at Bear, Stearns & Co. “He can’t just watch that. To be a world-class player, he has to have the exposure in Las Vegas. He needs to be there now, and that will be very expensive.”

Trump insists that he wants to keep his hotel and casino operation, but there are many who argue that his real love is big New York City building projects.

Many analysts, old friends and competitors agree.

“He may get up one morning and decide he doesn’t want to be in gambling,” said Marvin Roffman, a gambling expert with Roffman Miller Associates who has followed Trump for years. “The one thing he’ll never give up is his first love, real estate. I just don’t think his investment in casinos is chiseled in stone.”

Stephen F. Bollenbach, chief executive of Hilton Hotels and a former Trump lieutenant, commented, “Donald is absolutely back. He’s got a good presence in Atlantic City, and he’s a very smart guy. But what he does depends on his own personal focus. He really loves developing real estate in New York. And he’ll have to get to Las Vegas if he wants to be a big player.”

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: BOUNCING BACK After owning 100 percent of three debt-ridden casinos, Trump - after a series of compromises and bankruptcy filings - is emerging with a 40 percent interest in Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts.