said. “The guy’s running for president. He’s such a hard-working guy. His work ethic. People don’t understand. Rubio and Cruz are not running a business. This is their whole life.”
Kaplan, a former president and chief operating officer of Nutrisystem, told me that “as a working guy, I respect that.”
“People that aren’t from the special sperm club, like myself, I’ve watched my net worth drop as the market has dropped, as oil has dropped. I mean, what do you do?” Kaplan said. “I think he’ll do whatever it takes to reduce the debt. He’ll do whatever it takes to improve homeland security. Because he’s not going to be influenced by lobbyists.”
Hersch told me a similar story about Trump that, to her, reflects his ability to lead the world’s most powerful military and preside over the country’s $19 trillion economy.
“Everybody complained about the greens at the club,” she says. “Trump says to the greenskeeper: 120 days, you need to do something. He came back and says what did you do? He says, well, I’ve been getting bids, I’ve been doing that. He says but you didn’t do anything? You’re done.”
“People don’t understand,” she said. “He will hire the best candidate and he holds you accountable. You own that position. And if you don’t, he talks to you once and you’re done. There’s no second chance. You are done.”
It was almost 11 p.m. when Trump finally emerged into the ballroom, and everyone filed into their rows and looked back to watch him enter the room through their screens of their smartphones. Trump gave them a two-fingered peace sign.
“Nice to have you all at Trump International,” Trump said. “It’s been a great club and a great success. We appreciate, and have so many of our members. It’s beautiful.”
Trump framed his victories that night in terms the crowd can understand. “Winning deals or winning club championships, or whatever you want to say, there is nothing like this. It is really exciting stuff,” he said.
The crowd reacts to his applause lines—jokes about Cruz’s Canadian birth, calls for Rubio to quit—with the same hoots and hollers you hear at his rallies in 10,000-seat arenas. And they similarly defend him against the press, quickly booing a reporter who dared to ask Trump about the tone of the campaign, a question that many of them were discussing themselves earlier in the night.
“I just want to thank all of my friends, all of my members, all of my everything,” Trump tells his audience. “You have been so supportive and so great. You’re very, very special people.”