The Wisdom of The Donald
You may have noticed that Donald Trump is not the most self-reflective person. At least, not in public. But last week at the University of Alabama, Trump delivered a commencement address that revealed more about his mind than any speech since taking office. Naturally, the press missed the story.
Trump “weaved” together talking points and ad libs with something novel and unexpected: a 10-point distillation of his personal philosophy. If you watch or read the full speech, you get to know what Trump values, and what he believes is behind his success in business, entertainment, and politics. Such insight is fascinating—or should be to anyone interested in the psychology of the world’s most powerful man.
Which makes it remarkable that the speech received so little coverage. Media reports concentrated on either the speech’s political content or on Trump’s extended comic routine about transgender athletes. It was another reminder that so many journalists remain reflexively hostile toward and stubbornly incurious about the president, despite his 40-year-long grip on the public imagination and his two stunning election victories.
Some articles highlighted one or two of Trump’s life tips. But I couldn’t find a single news story that summarized all 10. The lack of specifics was frustrating. Trump criticism is an oversaturated market. Why not ask what makes him tick?
At this writing, the White House has yet to post a transcript of the address. (You can find one here.) Let’s look at each of Trump’s pearls of wisdom for the class of 2025:
Success happens at a young age. “In America, with drive and ambition, young people can do anything,” Trump said. No surprise he made great gains with young people in 2024.
Trump noted that he was 28 years old when he bought the Commodore Hotel in Manhattan and developed it into the Grand Hyatt—the beginning of his rise in New York real estate and social life.
Trump mentioned other American innovators, such as Steve Jobs, Walt Disney, and the Founders, who started off in their 20s. “Don’t waste your youth,” he said.
Love what you do. “I rarely see somebody that’s successful that doesn’t love what he or she does,” Trump told the graduates. He pointed to his father, Fred Trump, who died in 1999 at age 93. “He was a tough guy—tough as hell, actually,” Trump said, later adding, “He worked seven days a week.” Not because he had to, but because he enjoyed it.
While it’s hard for his critics to understand, Donald Trump and his supporters enjoy politics. A sense of fun, improvisation, and risk imbues his rallies and campaigns.
Think big. “It’s just as hard to solve a small problem as a big problem,” Trump said. He finds the audacious more enticing than the incremental. He leans toward the wildest visions—winning the presidency despite no military or government experience, for example. Or being reelected after impeachment, defeat, embarrassment, indictments, a criminal conviction, and two assassination attempts. Or rewriting the rules of American government, foreign policy, and the global trading system. Or turning the Gaza Strip into a luxury resort. Or reopening Alcatraz prison.
The list goes on.
Work hard. “Never, ever stop,” Trump said. That explains the 2 a.m. tweets.
To illustrate his point, Trump told a story about Gary Player, the South African professional golfer who, among other achievements, won nine major championships. “He made a statement years ago that I read, and I thought it was sort of an incredible statement,” Trump said. “He said, ‘It’s funny—the harder I work, the luckier I get.’ ”
Considering that Trump is one of the luckiest people alive—providentially lucky, in the case of his barely escaping death at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, last July—he must work harder than most.
Don’t lose your momentum. “The word momentum is very important,” Trump said. He brought up William Levitt, the real estate developer who pioneered the post–World War II move to the suburbs. In 1972, Levitt sold his company to a large corporation. He was never able to recapture his earlier success.
Years later, Trump continued, he encountered Levitt at a party. Referring to the sale, Levitt told Trump, “I shouldn’t have done it. I lost my momentum.”
The anecdote reveals why Trump operates at such high speeds. Trump has been likened to the honey badger, who doesn’t give up. His tenacity is related to a fear that slowing down means a loss of momentum—and an end to his career.
Be an outsider. “Progress never comes from those satisfied with the failures of a broken system,” Trump said.
The contrast with his political antithesis, Barack Obama, is stark. Obama says progress is achieved through bottom-up community action within institutions. For Trump, progress is the result of renegade individuals willing to break things.
The Trump approach is more effective. He’s an outsider who has transformed the Republican Party, the conservative movement, the office of the presidency, and world politics. Even Trump’s influence on the Democrats has been more lasting than Obama’s. After all, he’s behind their leftward lurch.
Trust your instincts. Trump is known for gut decisions and policy swerves. In this case, however, Trump used the word instinct as a synonym for common sense. “Borders are not racist,” he said. “Speech is not violence. America is good. Terrorists are bad. Men can never become women. Police are not criminals. And criminals are not victims.”
That’s about as clear a MAGA credo as you can get.
Believe in the American dream. Last August, Trump declared that the American dream was dead. He pledged to bring it back.
Mission accomplished? The American dream “is real,” he said at Alabama’s commencement. “It’s there. And it’s right before you.”
Think positively. “Don’t consider yourself a victim,” Trump said. “Consider yourself a winner.” He recommended one of his favorite books, The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale, who presided over the church he attended as a young man. Trump has an uncanny ability to turn setbacks into second chances, and to define himself as the stronger party in a negotiation—lessons learned from Peale.
The teaching has universal application. “Whether you were born rich or poor, black or white, male or female—in America, anyone can be a winner.”
Be an original. Trump’s list of American trailblazers—Theodore Roosevelt, Douglas MacArthur, George Patton, Amelia Earhart, Annie Oakley, Muhammad Ali—is telling. They are men and women of action, daredevils, risk-takers, outsize personalities. “You’re one of a kind,” Trump told the graduates. “So don’t try to be someone else. Just be yourself.” Such authenticity has been key to Trump’s political appeal.
“And finally—and most importantly,” Trump concluded, “never, ever give up.”
Trump clearly enjoyed the speech. “Loved being at the University of Alabama last night. What GREAT people!!!” he posted to Truth Social the next day. Then he brought up the event during his interview with Kristen Welker of NBC’s Meet the Press.
For good reason. What the 78-year-old president delivered in Alabama was nothing less than a self-portrait in motivational guise: The president as bootstrapping optimist, as renegade disrupter, as a hard-charging, bold, confident nationalist—and an undeniable American original.