These days, what's on Trump's mind is real estate: more specifically, buying it. Echoing what real estate agents have maintained for months, Trump said that today's plummeting house prices are great news for would-be home buyers.
"This is a great time to go out and buy a home," he said on "Good Morning America" today.
"You might even lose your one home and you'll end up getting a better one."
But Trump also acknowledged that obtaining mortgages to buy real estate these days is difficult, and he criticized the banks for not lending more cash. "What the banks are doing is terrible," he said.
"The banks have billions and billions of taxpayer money, and they're not giving that money or loaning that money to the taxpayer."
The solution, Trump said, is to buy bank-owned homes. Banks typically take ownership of homes after foreclosures, which have spiked as the housing crisis has escalated.
Banks will help buyers finance the homes they're trying to sell, Trump said.
The banks "don't want these homes; they've got thousands of them," he said. "They don't know what to do with them."
He also said he believed that banks receiving funds under the government's Troubled Assets Relief Program should be subject to compensation restrictions.
"When they're taking the TARP [money] ... all of a sudden you work for the government," he said. "When you no longer work for the government, you go by the board. But when you take billions and billions of dollars like so many of the banks have done, you probably have no choice."
Trump shares more of his opinions and advice in his new book, "Think Like a Champion: An Informal Education In Business and Life."
His lessons include going against the tide, keeping the big picture in mind, creating your own luck and giving yourself a second chance. Read an excerpt of his book on the next page.
Excerpt: Think Like a Champion
Over the years, I have watched many people aspire to success. I am one of them, and while I haven't peaked yet, I've had a good share of success already. So I'm often asked what my "secrets" to success are. I don't think they're secrets, but every one of us needs to have a formula that works for him or her personally.
This collection of writing is an indication of the thought process that I believe can lead people to success. It has worked for me. It's another side to my personality -- the more reflective side that reveals my sources and how I apply them to the big picture that is life. The persona you so often see via the world media is someone who is outgoing, confident, sometimes brash -- but honest.
One reason people like me is because I'm blunt. One reason people don't like me is because I'm blunt. But one reason I'm successful is that I can cut through nonsense quickly and get to the core of things.
Think Like a Champion is an example of that approach to life and business. I take a topic, think about it, dissect it, and put it back into a formula that becomes what I believe is solid advice. I have always relished putting time and energy into digging below the surface of a problem and coming up with a unique and effective answer.
While I was in school, my father, Fred C. Trump, would send inspirational quotes to me every week. Many of them were about leadership, how to be a champion in life. I learned a lot from them and I still refer to them, so they are included here for you.
I was fortunate to have a mentor in my life like my father, and I hope these writings will prove to be helpful to you. I would like to dedicate this book to the memory of my father and all that he taught me. I would hope that sharing these thoughts with you will provide you with guidance as well as inspiration.
-- Donald J. Trump
