"No drugs, no alcohol, no smoking" succession planning
Donald Trump reckons he has the right succession plan in place at his billion-dollar real estate and entertainment company, writes David Bain.
Interviewed recently in Forbes magazine, Trump (pictured) said he told his kids to avoid drugs, alcohol and smoking.
"As they grow up, any time I leave the house, I say, 'no drugs, no alcohol, no smoking.' After saying it a thousand times, they say, 'Dad, don't say it'," Trump was cited as saying in the Forbes article.
All three of his children from his first wife Ivana – Donald Jr, Ivanka and Eric – seem to have heeded their father's advice, or at least enough to gain their father's respect to be employed in the Trump empire.
A recent TV program on the BBC about the Trump phenomenon featured separate interviews with the three. All showed a sharp understanding and undivided loyalty to the Trump brand. And, at least in the space of the hour long documentary, all three looks like they could take the helm at Trump and take it to new heights.
Donald Jr, referred to as Don, is the eldest child at 32. Asked how the issue of succession would be handled, Don said all three of Trump's adult offspring work in harmony and implied this would continue after their father steps down, or dies.
That is what he might be expected to say in front of a TV camera being showed to millions.
The smart money might be on Don to succeed his father, who has been tasked to manage one of the more difficult development projects in the Trump Empire – a controversial golf resort in Scotland.
But it's far from clear. And questions must arise over whether succession can be managed in a company so dependent on the personality of its main character.
That may be why Trump tends to respond in an anodyne way when asked about succession.
He told Forbes: "Succession, in real estate, is to end up with great assets. If the assets are good, the succession is easy. You understand."
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