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Dec
15

Trump Blew It

(Updated: Spoiler Alert)

Two weeks ago I predicted Trump would hire both of the finalists on this season’s The Apprentice. Tonight he was on the verge of hiring Rebecca after he hired Randal. He asked Randal if he thought he should also hire Rebecca. After talking up Rebecca each week and winning as a team, Randal selfishly noted there should only be one apprentice. Mr. Trump – you blew it by not following your gut.

Randal showed his true colors by influencing Trump to not hire Rebecca. Mr. Alleged Nice Guy turned out to be Mr. Backstabber. Shocking? Not in the least, after all it is all business, right? Disappointing since I thought Randal was a good guy.

The reason I watch The Apprentice is not the reality TV hoopla. I watch it to learn more about business from people who are successful. It is one of my personal philosophies: surround yourself with successful and smart people and learn how they became successful. Each week Trump provides some wisdom and I usually learn something or reaffirm something I already know. This week he broke one of his own rules about following your gut. All good business people follow the their instincts. This was a big mistake on his part..

If Trump is smart he will correct this and hire Rebecca anyway, but I doubt it.

12 Responses to “Trump Blew It”

  1. December 15th, 2005 at 23:48 | #1

    In Randal’s defense, I think Trump put him on the spot and maybe he was thinking he could somehow still lose the competition. But overall it was a jerky thing to do. I just posted a similar post to yours on my own blog tryggblog.blogspot.com.

  2. Anonymous
    December 15th, 2005 at 23:53 | #2

    Never has my respect for a person diminished so quickly.

  3. Anonymous
    December 16th, 2005 at 00:58 | #3

    Randal did the right thing. Because The Apprentice is a television show, he could have assumed that Mr. Trump would have given the crown to Rebecca, especially since the show always has one winner.

    Besides, if NBC (who actually owns the show and chooses the Apprentice) really was going to hire both finalists, they would have done it. The choice regarding which person to hire definitely was made prior to the show. What Randal said had no bearing on Rebecca being hired.

    Also, I believe that it would have been easier for Randal to make the politically correct choice of saying he would hire Rebecca, but how many people would go on a job interview and ask for their main competitor to get hired as well?

  4. Anonymous
    December 16th, 2005 at 01:06 | #4

    If you watch the closing credits, you will see that NBC producers make the final decisions. Trump doesn’t own the show. As a matter of fact, he doesn’t even own the new building he mentioned tonight.

    http://www.jcedc.org/new/trumpap092205.html

  5. Anonymous
    December 16th, 2005 at 02:23 | #5

    I think Randal is a real jerk. He made a split second decision to screw someone over. It wouldn’t cost him anything.

    Trump asked if he should hire him also, Randal said no. That had nothing to do with NBC. Trump runs his own company and can hire anyone he wants. The poster who said otherwise has copy/pasted the same post on various other blogs, but it’s not true.

    Also, I think Trump was very odd for asking permission from Randal on who he should hire. If Trump wants to hire or fire someone, why did he ask Randal? Just do it!!! Who’s in charge now, Trump or Randal?

  6. Anonymous
    December 16th, 2005 at 02:50 | #6

    Warning…the poster above who supports Randal has copy/pasted the same post into a lot of blogs, just trying to get a buzz going, I guess…trying to rev up support for Randal since the rest of the world is bashing him.

    I think Randal is a very smart guy who made a big mistake for whatever reason. I would like to think it’s not REALLY that he’s a jerk, but we’ll probably know more later. I suspect either he or she or both will be on various talk shows. I sure hope he apologizes and explains himself.

  7. Anonymous
    December 16th, 2005 at 04:01 | #7

    I do not believe that Randal is a jerk. I attend the same church as him and have heard nothing but good things about him and his wife. The two of them just ran a seminar at the church a few weeks ago to help people get their finances together. He is always helping out those who are less fortunate.

    However, I think that he choked on national TV last night. It happens to plenty of people. Luckily for Randal, it happened after he won the contest. Mr. Trump put him in a bad spot, but it was a softball question that could have been handled better.

    Randal could have said to hire Rebecca without meaning it. We would have never known if he was sincere, but he would have come out looking good. It seems as if that’s what many people care about.

    As the saying goes;’pressure bursts pipes’. I hope that he rebounds from this situation and puts it behind him because the pressure will be intense during Randal’s 15 minutes of fame.

  8. December 16th, 2005 at 09:13 | #8

    Sorry folks. Pressure, softball question, fear of losing his appointment, nada. He is a well educated and proved this morning on the Today show that his decision was intentional. Gold medalists are unwilling to share their gold medals. Bold, but selfish and unfortunate.

    Good news, Rebecca is now being courted by Yahoo. Smart business move by Yahoo.

  9. Anonymous
    December 18th, 2005 at 00:46 | #9

    Rick, Rick, Rick,

    In the world of Tivo you should WARN us before you post spoilers. Lucily I recognized that you were going to give away the ending and stopped reading the post, then came back and read it later.

    Now, my take, Randal was selfish and didn’t want to share the limelight. Also, I see no reason why Trump couldn’t make Rebecca an offer, or any of the other candidates on this or any other season. Doesn’t mean she would be “The Apprentice” but she would have a job.

    Bob Archer

  10. December 18th, 2005 at 08:21 | #10

    You are right BOb, I should have added the spoiler alert. I don’t have a Tivo and still get frustrated when I learn the ending. Happened to me just this week with the Amazing Race. Glad you were able to stop yourself in time.

  11. December 20th, 2005 at 07:09 | #11

    I have not watched The Apprentis this season but did catch this final episode. It reminded me of the second to last episode of Survivor this season. For those of you who don’t watch, the person who wins the car has never won the title of Sole Survivor. So this season, the car winner had the option of giving up the car and in turn giving each of the remaining tribe members a car. She chose to keep the car. Guess what? She was voted out that night.

    My mom always told me that you get more flies with sugar than with vinegar.

  12. Anonymous
    April 8th, 2006 at 04:38 | #12

    You know this whole thing really did upset me and it still does. People call Randal selfish and the reality is this. The question should have never been asked. I want to know why did Randal have to be subjected to this type of scrutiny, he clearly deserved to be the Apprentice, he outperformed Rebecca by far over the totality of the season. It wasn’t even close, but now he is asked to share his limelight.

    The question was out of bounds and many of us in that same situation working so hard to be crowned the best would say the same thing. If you are really in a competition, every true competitor understands that as bad as it feels someone is going to lose.

    Otherwise it’s not a competition. Randall didn’t take anything from Rebecca he simply preserved what was rightfully his. He preserved the right to be able to say that I was the best and I deserved to be honored like the best.

    No champion wants to share the stage when they are being crowned champion, and even to give her a token job in the organization is sharing the stage.

    I have been in a lot of competitive situations and I have yet to meet anyone with a true competitive spirit who wants to share the spotlight when they win the championship.

    Hooray for Randall. People really should be focusing more on Mr. Trump than Randall. As bad as Dallas may have felt for Buffalo when they lost their 4th straight super bowl, you never heared any member of that team say let’s give an honorary super bowl championship. I will gurantee that when Mr. Trump wins an elite real estate contract that he even thinks about giving a small piece of that to the person who was 2nd, nor should he.

    It was a bad spot for Randall, but I applaud him for the guts to say what most people would say or think if there were no cameras.

    In fact, if it were me, and Mr. Trump tried to hire Rebecca I woul say I don’t want to be the Apprentice. Why do you change the rules when the first black man wins, but everyone else in the previous seasons got their opportunity to shine and share the spotlight with noone.

    I hate the fact that Mr. Trump is getting a pass for such a terrible question, it was awful and he gets a walk, because you don’t like Randal’s answer.

    I wish Rebecca well, and let’s be real, everyone who has finished 2nd does very well for themselves, so she’s not hurting at all, so why do we act like Randal made her unemployed because he told Mr. Trump no. I would have said no as well, not tonight, tonight is my night, if you want to hire her later that’s your business, but she shouldn’t be hired in any manner that appears Randall has to share when he was clearly the winner.

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