While Trump denied this under oath, having been subpoenaed about it by federal investigators in 1982, Cody said he “knew Trump quite well” and “Donald liked to deal with me through Roy Cohn.”161
Barbara Res, who oversaw the Trump Tower construction, confirmed that “Donald and his wife Ivana were very friendly with a woman whom everyone associated with the project understood to be Cody’s girlfriend.”162
Pulitzer Prize–winning author David Cay Johnston in The Making of Donald Trump (Making Trump) also confirmed much of this, stating:
Cody’s son, Michael, told me that his father was both a loving dad and every bit the notorious racketeer people believed him to be. He said that, as a boy, he listened in when Trump called his father, imploring Cody to make sure concrete flowed steadily at Trump Tower so he would not go broke before it was finished….
[And] John Cody invested $100,000 in [Hixon’s] apartments and stayed there often. Trump helped the woman get a $3 million mortgage to pay for the three apartments…. She said she got the mortgage from a bank that Trump recommended she use, without filling out a loan application or showing financials.163
Much of this information came to light when Trump sued Hixon for $250,000 in unpaid upgrades. She sued him back for $20 million, accusing Trump of “taking kickbacks from contractors.” Trump paid Hixon $500,000 to settle.164
Trump understood his own and Cody’s interests. And he appeared to satisfy both.
Trump’s Understanding of Interests Aligns with the Research
Finding out what the parties want and need and offering up carrots satisfying them represent a tried and true method for getting what you want in negotiations.
RESEARCH: Focusing on the parties’ fundamental interests, not just their positions, has been consistently taught by negotiation professors ever since Roger Fisher and William Ury first made this interests/positions distinction in Getting to Yes (later revised with Bruce Patton as co-author).165
What should all negotiators do? Uncover fundamental interests underlying positions. Interests, according to Fisher, Ury, and Patton, are parties’ needs, desires, concerns, and fears. They’re the fundamental driving forces that motivate parties. For some it’s ego. They want everyone to know they “won.” For others it may be security or economic well-being. Still others crave recognition, a sense of belonging, or control over one’s life. The number and type of interests at issue in negotiations are many and varied.
Positions, by contrast, are what each side believes will satisfy their interests. Positions are what you want. Interests are why you want it.166
Why do you care? Fundamental interests determine success or failure. Negotiation success or failure is directly tied to the extent that the parties involved satisfy their true interests. If you haven’t fully explored your interests, you can’t really know whether you have succeeded or failed.167
On the Commodore and Trump Tower deals, Trump knew his interests, ascertained his counterparts’ interests, and found ways to satisfy them. Trump in his later deals, however, stopped doing his due diligence. This later proved fatal to satisfying his and his counterparts’ fundamental interests.
Uncovering interests takes time and effort.
Bribery and Conflicts of Interests
One final note on interests. Parties cannot simply negotiate based on satisfying mutual interests. Bribery, conflict of interest, and other laws prevent this. Society has determined fairness requires that business deals largely revolve around business interests—not the personal self-interests of those involved in negotiations.
You can’t personally pay Employee A of Business ABC to award you a big contract with Business ABC. Nor can you pay Politician A of State A to pass legislation favorable to you or zone some property that financially benefits you. These represent illegal acts.
The key in these types of criminal matters relates to whether a quid pro quo exists. You do this because I paid you this. If payment A does not cause or is not related to the deal or a benefit, no problem. The timing, then, was just a coincidence.
Trump has been investigated several times by federal authorities regarding whether he has crossed the line into criminal behavior. At no time has he been indicted or prosecuted. And he has consistently denied being involved in any criminal behavior.
He has, however, said “I’ll do nearly anything within legal bounds to win.”168 Keep in mind: Just because he hasn’t been indicted, prosecuted, nor convicted doesn’t mean he didn’t do it.
It just means the prosecutors decided they didn’t then have sufficient evidence to prove “beyond a reasonable doubt” that he engaged in the criminal conduct.
LESSONS LEARNED
| Trump’s Strategies and Tactics | Trump understands and seeks to fulfill his personal and professional interests in negotiations. |
| Trump’s greatest interest is in the perception of “winning.” | |
| Trump ascertains his counterparts’ personal and professional interests. | |
| Trump explores ways to satisfy his counterparts’ personal interests, the carrots. | |
| Trump deeply understands media and political interests. | |
| Lessons Learned | Uncovering parties’ true personal and professional interests and needs—not just positions—represents a crucial negotiation strategy. |
| Satisfying parties’ fundamental interests determines success or failure. | |
| Exploring underlying interests takes time and effort. | |
| Bribery and other legal restrictions prevent negotiations from solely revolving around interests. |
THE ART OF THE BLUFF: WHEN HE HOLDS… AND WHEN HE FOLDS
“The worst thing you can possibly do in a deal is seem desperate to make it. That makes the other guy smell blood, and then you’re dead. The best thing you can do is deal from strength, and leverage is the biggest strength you can have… Unfortunately, that isn’t always the case, which is why leverage often requires imagination, and salesmanship.” 169
—Donald J. Trump
Donald Trump knows leverage. In fact, leverage has driven almost all his deals.
How? To answer this, we must define leverage. Many consider negotiation power and leverage the same. Not true. Leverage is one type of power in negotiations. But other negotiation power exists, too.
What is negotiation leverage and how does it provide power?
RESEARCH: Leverage consists of two elements:
How much each party needs or wants an agreement relative to the other
The consequences to each side if no agreement is reached—that is, each side’s alternative to a negotiated agreement [each side’s