A lot of things, but one of them is the name.
It’s not really Donald Trump’s fault, of course, because he was always a good businessperson.
But, even if you don’t like the name, the brand has become something of a joke for its association with Trump’s past.
The term Trump’s “business empire” comes from a real estate deal Trump and his partners, including developer Victor R. Saltsman Jr., made with a group of investors in 1968 that resulted in a huge price tag and made it one of the most lucrative real estate deals in U.S. history.
The name stuck and became a rallying cry for Trump’s populist brand, with a TV commercial that ran for decades playing on the phrase “Trump’s business empire.”
Trump and his business partners bought the building at 1 Wilshire Blvd., the site of a former mansion owned by James J. “Whitey” Bulger.
They also purchased a nearby tract of land and built an $11 million apartment complex in the building’s former neighborhood.
The Trump brand was born.
Trump was not only a successful businessman, he also had a flair for political maneuvering.
He built a luxury hotel in downtown Manhattan that he named the Trump Princess, which he used to promote his own political campaigns and other business ventures.
As a New Yorker, he ran for the presidency on a ticket that included former Presidents Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan.
In 1968, Trump became a national figure in the aftermath of the assassinations of three people, including Martin Luther King Jr. and his wife, Coretta Scott King.
That year, Trump launched a TV campaign to promote the hotel.
He ran on a platform of bringing jobs to America.
He promised to repeal the Johnson Amendment that bans public spending on campaigns by political parties and unions.
But the hotel was an afterthought, the focus of a marketing campaign that also included the slogan “We Will Make America Great Again.”
It was a move that angered some, who felt the hotel would have little to do with the legacy of the civil rights leader.
“Trump’s political career has been a constant reminder of the fact that he was a real person with an unpretentious, even self-effacing style,” the Atlantic wrote in 2017.
“That style became a staple of his presidential campaign, and he built a brand on it.
He would say anything and everything to make himself appear more credible.”
Trump was accused of sexism in the 1970s, and the backlash led to his resignation from the campaign in 1974.
He later took a leave of absence from his business, but not before he sued his former business partner Saltsmann for sexual harassment and other claims.
In his autobiography, “The Art of the Deal,” Trump also said he was the victim of a “vicious smear campaign.”
In it, he said the attacks on him came from the right and that he “had to go through some of the worst hell that anybody has ever endured.”
The Trump brand continued to be a source of pride for the businessman even after he left office.
In 2015, a man who claimed to have visited the estate in the 1990s told ABC News that he believed Trump “had a little bit of a personality.”