Donald Trump and the Tavern on the Green before it closed

On the eve of the deadline for potential operators to submit proposals for the Tavern on the Green, Donald Trump said he would not get involved in the bidding, DNA info reported.

Trump struck an agreement with the union that represents Tavern employees — a sticking point in previous bids for the restaurant —and said last year that he’d spend $20 million to rehabilitating the space. But all that went out the window when the city said it sought proposals for a “casual dining” eatery. [more]

Donald Trump

Donald Trump is sinking millions into real estate investments, taking large risks in 2012 for the first time since “getting clobbered” in the 1990s, the Wall Street Journal reported.

For instance, in addition to his purchase of the Doral Golf Resort and Spa, Trump bought out New York-based Fortress Investment, his junior creditors at the Trump International Hotel and Tower Chicago condominiums earlier this month, to the tune of $48 million. [more]

Donald Trump Following the purchase of the Doral Golf Resort in Miami late last month, developer Donald Trump said today that he’s now looking all over the country for new real estate. He called into CNBC this morning and mentioned that Palm Beach, Fla., where he owns the Mar-a-Lago Club, is a good place to invest. “Palm Beach is a unique place,” Trump said. “It’s just rich and good,” mainly because he said that Palm Beach “is never affected by the economy,” though he did not specify exactly why. See the video after the jump.

From left: a golf course and Donald Trump

Investors are betting on golf courses as they predict a significant decline in the number of golf courses nationwide, due to a number of factors, Bloomberg News reported.

The median price for a golf course was down to $3 million in the third quarter of 2011, from $4.6 million in 2006, according to numbers from national commercial brokerage Marcus & Millichap. The result is that investors, including Donald Trump himself, whose Trump Golf company has plans for courses from Scotland to the Bronx, are snapping up the properties, Bloomberg said. [more]

From left: Stephen Schwarzman, Richard LeFrak, Sam Zell, Leonard Stern, Stephen Ross

Blackstone President Stephen Schwarzman, Richard LeFrak, Equity International Chairman Sam Zell and Related Companies Chairman Stephen Ross were just some of the big players in New York City real estate to make Forbes’ list of the world’s 1,226 billionaires released yesterday.

But none can match the wealth of the man who has the final say on whether many of their ambitious city projects ultimately get built: Mayor Michael Bloomberg. [more]

Donald Trump and the Doral Golf Resort in Miami

From the South Florida website: Donald Trump has officially purchased the Doral Golf Resort in Miami for $150 million, with plans to spend an additional $150 million to make over the property, according to the Miami Herald. “When Doral first opened, it was considered the best resort in the world,” Trump said. [more]

Donald TrumpIn his inaugural appearance on “Squawk Box’s” new weekly feature, “Trump Tuesday,” Donald Trump said housing is the best investment right now, and railed on green office buildings.

Trump reasoned that because of the nearly $16 trillion national debt, “the greatest thing you can own” is real estate, unless the debt gets resloved the “old-fashioned” and “proper” way. Watch the entire video after the jump. [more]

From left: Donald Trump and Mitt Romney

Despite claiming earlier this week that he may still run for the position himself, developer Donald Trump may be planning to endorse former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney for president in Las Vegas today, sources told the Washington Post.

He is planning to make the announcement at 3.30 p.m., a senior Romney campaign office said. [more]

Donald TrumpDespite having withdrawn his bid for the Republican presidential nomination in May, New York real estate developer Donald Trump may still consider a run for president, he told CBS News yesterday, because “the country is going to hell in a handbasket” (see video after the jump). “I’m still thinking about it,” he told CBS’ Bob Schieffer. “We’ll see what happens.” [more]

Donald Trump and 40 Wall Street

Thanks to aggressive leasing deals, Donald Trump again has managed to improve 40 Wall Street’s value, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Leases for more than 600,000 square feet worth of space at the 1.3 million-square-foot office tower were set to expire in 2009, yet in the last six months the Trump Organization has managed to fill two-thirds of that space in a tepid office leasing environment. [more]