WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� In the January 2004 pilot of 鈥淭he Apprentice,鈥� said something he would never admit now.
鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 always so easy,鈥� he said in a voice-over, noting that by the late 1980s, 鈥淚 was seriously in trouble鈥� and 鈥渂illions of dollars in debt.鈥�
It is one of the few times Trump has ever publicly acknowledged failure. Even then, he was reading a script meant to promote an against-the-odds credentials for viewers 鈥� previewing the combative charisma that propelled a political career a decade later.
In his telling now, Trump never loses.
Even when he clearly has been defeated 鈥� 鈥� Trump declares victory so often that his supporters believe him. He knows the power of repetition.
鈥淭he world for him is divided into winners and losers. And he鈥檚 always a winner,鈥� said John Bolton, who was one of Trump鈥檚 national security advisers during his first term.
The Supreme Court his signature tariffs? Trump vows to work around the court, ensuring import taxes can be 鈥渦sed in a much more powerful and obnoxious way.鈥�
His Justice Department stops appealing court rulings blocking executive orders aimed at punishing big law firms, then reverses course and renews those legal fights after coverage of the non-appeals looks like an admission of defeat.
One of the president鈥檚 sons, Eric, said his father 鈥渉as never needed to project a 鈥榳inning image.鈥� He IS the definition of a winner, based on what he has built and accomplished.鈥�
But for the Republican president, the stakes for winning have never been greater than the where he declared victory within days. He has repeated that assertion constantly even as Tehran continued to strike U.S. and allied targets and choke off the , spreading around the globe.
With a , Trump is saying the United States has . But reality does not substantiate that.
鈥淲hether or not things are going well, that鈥檚 not going to detour him from declaring victory. That鈥檚 baked in the cake,鈥� Bolton said.
鈥橳hat was the messaging strategy鈥�
Sarah Matthews, a former first-term Trump White House deputy press secretary who resigned when a on Jan. 6, 2021, said the president鈥檚 鈥渆go won鈥檛 allow him to acknowledge defeat.鈥�
鈥淭hat was the messaging strategy,鈥� Matthews said of her time at the White House. 鈥淚t was, 鈥楬ow can we redefine this loss as a victory?鈥欌��
Current White House spokesman Davis Ingle countered that Trump 鈥減roudly projects the unmatched greatness of our country consistently in his public comments.鈥�
Trump’s framing of setbacks as wins can be traced to his early days as a real estate developer. In 1973, federal authorities sued Trump and his father, alleging racial discrimination in renting apartments their company built in Brooklyn and Queens, two New York City boroughs.
The Trumps were urged to countersue by Roy Cohn, the notorious attorney who rose to fame as an aggressive promoter of Sen. Joseph McCarthy鈥檚 鈥渞ed scare鈥� hearings of the 1950s.
The case was settled after both sides signed an agreement two years later, prohibiting the Trumps from 鈥渄iscriminating against any person.鈥� Trump declared victory, noting that there had been no admission of guilt, despite the Justice Department calling the settlement 鈥渙ne of the most far-reaching ever negotiated.鈥�
David Cay Johnston, author of 鈥淭he Making of Donald Trump,鈥� said Cohn 鈥渢aught Donald, you never concede as much as a comma.鈥�
鈥淲hatever position you鈥檝e taken, that鈥檚 the position and anybody who challenges you, they鈥檙e wrong. They鈥檙e disgusting. They鈥檙e incompetent. They鈥檙e idiotic,鈥� Johnston said.
Bankruptcies didn鈥檛 dent Trump鈥檚 image
Through the years, Trump consistently lost money in his business ventures, launching failed lines of namesake products that included steaks, bottled water, vodka, a magazine, an airline, a home mortgage concern and online classes known at Trump University.
Barbara Res, who worked for the future president for nearly two decades, remembers him pitting top executives against one another to ensure he remained his company鈥檚 most powerful voice, even as losses mounted.
Those experiences informed today鈥檚 Trump, she said, where 鈥渘othing is wrong to him, if it helps him.鈥�
Robert Thompson, a Syracuse University professor of television and popular culture, said the success of 鈥淭he Apprentice鈥� was built on earlier factors. Those included the hubris built into the title of Trump鈥檚 1987 book, 鈥淭he Art of the Deal,鈥� as well as his aggressive courting of media attention and obsession with naming buildings after himself.
鈥淲hen you need someone to quickly and efficiently represent 鈥楢merican Rich Guy,鈥� Trump has kind of cast himself in that position and everybody goes along with it,鈥� said Thompson, who added, that, once that occurred, 鈥渢he actual ups and down of his portfolio doesn鈥檛 matter that much.鈥�
After his three casinos in Atlantic City, New Jersey, failed, Trump insisted to The Associated Press in 2016 that 鈥淎tlantic City was a great period for me.鈥�
鈥橸ou make your own reality鈥�
After he lost the 2016 Republican Iowa caucus, Trump posted that Texas Sen. Ted Cruz 鈥渋llegally stole it.鈥� Trump went on to win the presidency but lose the popular vote to Democrat Hillary Clinton that November, and said he had actually captured that, too, 鈥渋f you deduct millions of people who voted illegally.鈥�
Russell Muirhead, a professor at Dartmouth College who has written about Trump鈥檚 chaotic governing style, said Trump has been at the practice long enough 鈥渢o live in a world where you make your own reality.鈥�
Even the way Trump plays golf means racking up wins 鈥� at least at his own properties, where he boasts of many club championships and no second-place finishes.
Trump says he has won 38 times at his golf clubs. That includes a 2018 tournament in West Palm Beach, Florida, where he did not play and only claimed victory after topping the winner in a subsequent match. Trump also claimed the same course鈥檚 senior championship in 2023, despite missing the event鈥檚 first round, instead listing a score shot on the same course earlier.
Johnston said Trump 鈥渉as this fictional narrative in his head鈥� and is 鈥渓ike a screenwriter. When you need to change the narrative, you just change it.鈥�
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EDITOR鈥橲 NOTE: Will Weissert has covered politics for The Associated Press since 2011 and the White House since 2022.
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