No Trump in Iowa or NH, But He's Still Stealing Headlines

When it comes to personal branding, it's hard to trump Donald Trump. The self-proclaimed $3 billion brand name may have been conspicuously absent from the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary, but don't count Donald Trump out just yet.

Flexing his publicity-prone muscles, Donald Trump gave the media and blogosphere a New Year's gift by proclaiming that he wouldn't rule out a run for president as an independent should the Republicans choose the "wrong candidate." In fact, a report surfaced that a group of Trump supporters had filed paperwork in Texas to allow him to run as a third-party candidate for the "Make America Great Again Party." 

Whether it's true or not, Trump continues to keep the political fire burning — and awareness of his name high.

He stepped into the Occupy Wall Street mania in a rather odd way when it was announced that Trump would abruptly take over the Milk Street Cafe, renaming it Trump Street Bar & Grille. Apparently, the reason for Trump's occupation of the restaurant was the fact that the police had erected barricades in front of the cafe, located at 40 Wall Street, to ward off Occupy Wall Street protesters. Cafe owner Marc Epstein said the move killed his business. Trump reportedly scooped up the place at a fire sale price. (Trump owns the building, and was Epstein's landlord.)

Meanwhile, a Trump-owned subsidiary, Trump National and International Golf Clubs, has snagged a deal on a New York City golf course that is generating more than a little controversy.

Over 200 acres of Bronx parkland were pegged for development into a municipal golf course, including a driving range and waterfront esplanade in 2000, when the city estimated a development cost of $22 million, all of it to be paid by a developer. It never happened. Twelve years later, the project price tag is around $180 million, and taxpayers will foot most of the bill. Trump Golf, as the company is known, will kick in just $10 million to build a clubhouse, plus twenty years of a relatively modest percentage of revenues. "Critics said the deal with Mr. Trump's company was unlikely to generate enough revenue to pay for the ballooning costs," according to the New York Times, but fellow billionaire Mayor Michael Bloomberg "defended the proposed arrangement."

At the same time, The Donald (whose latest book — Time to Get Tough: Making America #1 Again — was released in December), was celebrating the fifteenth anniversary of New York's iconic Trump International Hotel and Tower in Trumpian style. From January 15, 2012 through January 15, 2013, guests staying for two nights in a one-bedroom suite with a view of Central Park can take advantage of a "Crystal Package" worth $15,000, including Champagne, crystal jewelry, and Christian Louboutin shoes encrusted in crystals. A new Trump hotel also opens in Toronto this month.

And let's not forget that Trump is a television celebrity in his own right, with the new season of his NBC hit reality show, The Celebrity Apprentice, beginning on February 12. The new lineup of b-list celebs, announced last week, will include Clay Aiken, Tia Carrere, Arsenio Hall, Penn Jillette, Lisa Lampanelli, and Cheryl Tiegs.

Still can't get enough Trump? There's always his social self-aggrandizing, with video-blogging, Twitter and Facebook broadcasts — not to mention the brand-building via his children's activities, with Ivanka and Donald Jr. part of the Apprentice team in addition to their own activities and brand-building. The Trump machine continues!