Well he didn’t become a billionaire by not listening to people smarter than him which actually makes him very smart and modest even though he doesn’t come off that way.
If you watch some of his older interviews and appearances from, say, the 80s, he was a lot more articulate and charismatic.
He was born into a NYC real estate empire, his father gave him the Manhattan portion, and then they put it under management. He was practically a billionaire since birth.
Donald Trump’s most successful individual venture was his media career, but a lot of people are really tuned in to media so that was probably a good thing. I’m not sure an ordinary GOP candidate could have won, even though both Rubio and Kasich way out-polled him in the contest against the Clinton machine.
I agree that he was better in his presentation in the 80s. I’m from NYC (Upper West Side!) and people liked him when he came out and did things like the Wollman Rink and criticized the dysfunctional Mayor and city government.
He always sounded quite rational and business-like. He ran or started to run for Mayor a few years ago - I don’t recall whether it was the first or the second De Blasio term - but he dropped it when there was opposition. And that was my other worry.
But everything seems to be okay now!