Stickler For Perfection: Trump Recalls His First Job With Father Fred Trump

US President Donald Trump has shared memories of his first job working for his father, real estate developer Fred Trump, recalling how he inspected buildings and construction sites and learned the importance of maintaining high standards.

Trump shared the remarks in a video posted on his Instagram account on Wednesday, September 9. Speaking from the White House, he described his early experience in the family real estate business as a “great memory”.

“So many people ask me what my first job was. What do I remember? I think it was a great memory because I'd go around, and my father was in the real estate business. I'd check buildings. I would look at sites and check buildings,” Trump said.

He recalled accompanying his father to properties and checking whether buildings were clean, properly maintained and completed to their standards.

“We would go around and see if they are clean and properly done and everything is perfect. He was a stickler for perfection, and I learned a lot from that, and I am a stickler for perfection also,” Trump said.

Trump, born in New York City in 1946, joined his father's company, Trump Management, in 1968 after graduating from the University of Pennsylvania. The company managed middle class rental properties in New York's outer boroughs, including Queens, Brooklyn and Staten Island.

His early responsibilities included collecting rent from tenants and overseeing repairs. Trump also became involved in the management of Swifton Village, a troubled apartment complex in Cincinnati that his father had acquired. The property became one of the early projects that helped shape Trump's real estate career.

Trump has frequently described Fred Trump as an important influence on his business career. His work with his father eventually led him toward larger real estate projects in Manhattan, where he later built the Trump brand.

The president's latest video offers a personal look back at those early years, presenting his first professional experience as the foundation for the standards and approach he says he carried into his own business career.