Trump tapping profit and gloss

By Peter Johnson
USA Today

So what's a smart businessman to do to cash in while the market's hot for all things Trump?

If you're The Donald, you relaunch Trump World, a slick, glossy, bimonthly vanity magazine that he has tested twice with clients in his hotels and condos.

Only this time, you redesign and sell it on newsstands to average folks who may aspire to the lifestyles of the rich and famous, with insider stuff on "The Apprentice" and stories on adopting a luxurious way of life.

"I figured we conquered the TV business, so I guess we have to go magazines now, right?" Trump says.

"It's really a branding thing," he notes, and the target audience "is an affluent reader. Very high end. It's a reader that buys a lot, that spends a lot of money." Anyone who reads it, beyond his hotel and condo clients, "is gravy."

But editor/publisher Michael Jacobson says Trump World, which hits stands in September, will "appeal to both" regular people and those at Trump's properties. Trump "is the human logo," Jacobson says. "There's no better person out there" to launch a new title.

Trump's venture is part of a publishing trend also seen this week when Time Inc., without any fanfare, put 1.2 million copies on newsstands of a new magazine called Your Diet, intended to cash in on the diet craze.

"It's striking while the iron is hot," says Samir Husni, a magazine professor at the University of Mississippi. "Nobody is thinking long term. Everyone knows how to ride the wave, and to stay on the beach when the wave is gone."

Of Trump going mass-market at $5.95 an issue, Husni notes: "Everyone wants to be rich and famous. He's giving them a vehicle: "Be just like me.' "

Trump's face and comb-over have hit the covers of Time and Newsweek as one of America's most flamboyant developers. And following the success of "The Apprentice" — which returns in September — Trump has announced "Trumped," a syndicated drive-time radio segment this fall on 400 stations.