As Donald Trump likes to remind people, he is quite a wealthy man. The real estate mogul has long been at the top of the financial food chain, but in 2011, “The Oprah Winfrey Show” wanted to find out what would happen when the man who owns the Trump Hotel Collection took on some more basic staff duties at his luxury chain.
Trump was game, and his first task was to serve as the hotel’s bellman. He donned the uniform jacket — “That’s very interesting,” he commented while putting it on — and learned from the hotel’s real bellman what the role entailed.
“We do everything from walking dogs to running up groceries to whatever the guests may need,” Paul told his boss. “We really never have to say no to a guest.”
The first few guests in need of assistance were those checking out of the hotel with their luggage. Trump helped put their bags in their cars, even though it’s a responsibility he hadn’t taken on himself in ages.
“This is the first time I’ve carried luggage for anybody, including myself, in a long time,” Trump remarked. “It’s been a long time. But it was fun.”
The next order of business was to respond to a hotel guest who wanted her dog walked. The dog was sweet, but Trump found walking the dog in the dead of winter to be less than ideal. “You take a dog, you go outside, it’s freezing and you walk around for a while. It’s not that easy,” he said.
Trump then stopped by the hotel kitchen to deliver a meal to guests who had ordered in-room dining — “I hope you give me a nice, big, fat tip,” he joked to the guests — and ended his day by meeting up with a room attendant named Mia to help with housekeeping.
Trump helped her make a bed and vacuum the floors without much incident, but then it came time to tend to the bathroom.
“Oh, I’m not into bathrooms, Mia. I don’t know if I could ever do that job,” he said, visibly peeved. “Only sinks, right?”
As Trump cleaned the sinks, he had a change of heart. “I like that,” he said as he scrubbed. “I like this job, Mia!”
“Then maybe you should come help me all the time,” she smiled.
When it was all over, Trump summed up his experience by relaying what it really required to take on those various roles.
“These are four jobs that I’ve never done before. They’re tough. You have to be sharp, you have to be smart, you have to get along with the people,” he said. “It’s hard work. Not easy.”
Related: In 1988, Oprah asked Donald Trump if he’d ever run for president — here’s how he replied
Also on HuffPost:
– This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
