In our Behind The Boardroom segment, he is all about the deal. And this deal shows the Donald still has very firm control over his art. We are talking about the inimitable Donald Trump and his investment in the building that goes by the moniker of 40 Wall. You see, well, people saw some problems here, Trump saw a great deal of potential. The result Mr. Trump's initial equity stake of nearly $1 million in that building that few were willing to touch a few years ago has ballooned to an estimated $300 million, not bad. Here to discuss 40 Wall and a lot of other issues, Donald Trump. Hi Donald, good to have you. Hi Neil, thank you. Pretty psyched about this? Well I'm really happy about it, 40 Wall has been a great success it and made it good, and then got CNA Surety , and American Express , and Bear Stearns , and lots of others to occupy it. And now it's virtually a hundred percent occupied. It was virtually a hundred percent empty when we bought it. But it was a great landmark building, and it had a lot of potential, and I was able to see that. Were you getting concerned when Wall Street was hiccuping a little while back that maybe this was the worst of times to be debuting there. Well, when I bought the building three years ago things were very bad in the real estate market and especially down there. And then it started getting better almost from the time I bought it, and that's been great. And, now I'm just about rented so it doesn't make much difference. But, the market is still very strong down on Wall Street. Now, who is buying in there Donald. I mean, we're hearing that it's very, very rich individuals who are almost impervious to the market. What's up? Well basically is rich companies, and they're not buying they are renting a 40 Wall. It's rich companies like Bear Stearns and CNA, and American Express, and Compaq Computer , and these are some of our tenants. And, the building is 1.3 million square feet, and as I said it's virtually rented. But, these are very AAA companies really -- either AAA or very close to it. And it's been a really great experiment for me, I will tell you. It's been a terrific success. Now you and I have chatted about this before Donald, but there are some reports that saying rental income across the country has slid about 20 percent. Are you noticing any of that in your neck of the woods? Well, I don't see it in office space, I don't see to apartments. I mean, apartments in New York are getting higher prices than ever before. They are getting higher rents by far, higher than ever before. And -- the New York market's been very strong. You know, you have a very little sliver, it's called the island of Manhattan, you have very little land Neil. And when you have a piece of land, generally speaking, you'll do pretty well with it. Now, these Real Estate Investment Trusts that have been running into trouble, and indeed it seems their stock prices correct on average about 30 percent from their highs I believe. Was that are worrisome signal to you? Do you think maybe it justified, you're not going the REIT Route? Well, I'm in a little bit of a different market. I just brought the General Motors building and -- I'm not a REIT, so it's a little bit different. And I was able to get the General Motors with very good financing, because we closed to 2 1/2 months ago before these crazy markets changed, before the financial markets changed. But, I think that generally the RIETs are strong, but their stock prices are low, and we'll see what happens to them over a period of time. They were paying very high prices for things and I guess now maybe they are being penalized a little bit. So, you don't think that this is a harbinger of things to come for your industry? Well I think my industry is different industries, it's a location industry. I -- Manhattan is very strong, you can't get office space, you can't get apartments, you can't rent apartments, and I think that's one industry. You have other parts of the country that aren't so strong, but I think Manhattan itself, were I am primarily has been -- we've never seen it like this. It's much, much stronger than even the '80s. Would it help your case -- and even expanding elsewhere Donald if the Fed eases rates tomorrow. Well lower interest rates are always good, especially in my business which is primarily real estate. So, I always love to see lower interest rates, it's a very positive thing. And I think it would absolutely help if the Fed eased the rate. Which I think they will. All, you do. But by how much? I think so. I'd like to see a half, I'm not sure they're talking about a quarter, but I think the Fed will at least ease the rates. So if they were a quarter point, will you think Wall Street, maybe even yourself, would be disappointed? Well -- it might be disappointed, but there is a good response to lower rates no matter what it is. OK. Let me get your sense, you just made the Forbes 400 list again. I mean, you're worth better than what, $1 1/2 billion, is that figure right? I really don't know what number they put me, I haven't seen it. Yes. But, whatever it is, I don't know -- it's all a lot of money to me. It is a lot of money, but I mean when you're worth that much money, Donald, this might seem trite on my part, but does it change your perception of the risks that you take when you do something. When you feel that you're so rich you almost don't care? Well, I do things because I like doing them much more so than I do them for the money, Neil. And you sort of know that, because you and been watching. And I really do things that I enjoyed doing and sometimes make money with them. But, I really do it for that reason, I don't do it for the money, per se. But, it is better to be rich than poor though, isn't it? I agree, 100 percent, it's much easier to be rich. [Laughter] Let me get your sense, of just what's happening. This Forbes list, 29 people would have made it had it not been for their declining stock. And, ironically it's not your stock that has put you on this list. In fact, you got their apart from that. But, what do you think of the fact that so many people are getting bumped off this list precisely, because their stocks are tanking? Well, I think there's been a big change in the list over the last month and I'm sure they had to do some very strong work at midnight -- in order to make the issue, because a lot of the people that were on the list a month ago are now off the list. And, very substantially off the list. So, I guess they had their little computers working very late in the night at Forbes. But, mine's based on real estate I guess. Yes And, you know, primarily that's of my company is. But, what do you make of the fact that you've never tried to be anything else, Donald but what you are, a real estate kingpin right now. But, the fact of the matter is very smart folks have may very dumb moves in the stock market. I'm talking about Merriwether, and that whole hedge fund disaster, and those two Nobel laureate economists with him. What you think that says about this market? Well, I think it's say is that you sort of have to make money, perhaps, to use a phrase the old-fashioned way. You have to go out and do a little work. I mean, some of these schemes, and whether it's Merriwether or whomever, I mean some of the schemes that just didn't work out are pretty embarrassing to us as businessmen. When I look at some of the things that were being said if it goes up we make money. If it goes down we make money. We make money no matter what. And I'd sit back and I say how is a possible, but then I realized they got the Nobel work to make money. And the schemes generally don't work. And this was a good example of it, this was a great embarrassment to all of us -- if you're a businessmen this was to me an embarrassment, what happened to them. Now if a guy comes up to and says I want to work for you Donald Trump I've got a Nobel Prize. What do you say? Well I think now maybe I'll take a second look. [Laughter] You look askance at it. Finally this economy in general, the still think it's OK? I think it's good in this country, I think it's got a chance to be even better, and much better. We have not seen much hurt in the real estate industry -- apartments are selling for record numbers and they are leasing for even higher numbers proportionately. I mean, they are leasing for numbers that are far more than you can get even for office space. But, again this is a little bit of a figment, because it's a unique place, Manhattan is a unique place. I think the economy is going to be good, I think if interest rates go down, the economy will get very good again in the not too distant future. All right Donald congratulations, again. Nice to see you on Wall Street. Thank you very much, Neil. All right. Donald Trump.