TRUMP STRONGER THAN EVER : WITH LESSONS LEARNED FROM THE RECESSION, THE BUSINESS TYCOON'S EMPIRE SURGES AGAIN - BUT THIS TIME WITH LESS RISK-TAKING.

Byline: Eric R. Quinones Associated Press 

Hardly a week seems to pass these days without some notice of Donald Trump and his deals - the Miss Universe pageant, the world's tallest building and a stream of other Biggest, Best and Most Beautiful projects.

If this sounds a lot like the 1980s, when Trump was a storied example of the decade's unbridled wealth, it is. After facing a near-crippling recession early this decade, Trump has fought back by using the lessons he learned from making big deals and some big mistakes.

Trump is again expanding his empire rapidly, but this time without insisting on total ownership of everything - and creating the risk of total collapse that comes along with it. He has capitalized on the marketing cachet of his name and combined it with his considerable experience in developing and running properties to attract investors.

Trump has emerged - and not just by his words - stronger than ever.

``He has an amazing resiliency. I think a lot of people wrote him off, but he wrote the book `The Art of the Deal' and I guess he mastered his title,'' said casino expert Milton Leontiades, dean of the Rutgers University business school in Camden, N.J.

Trump built his real estate and casino empire on renowned negotiating skills, blatant self-promotion and a lot of other people's money. Then the recession hit in the early 1990s, keeping people away from his blackjack tables and stripping value from his real estate.

Trump teetered on the brink of bankruptcy, with personal liabilities exceeding $900 million in 1991. His three Atlantic City casinos and posh Plaza Hotel were forced to undergo bankruptcy reorganization. Other well-known assets, such as the Trump Shuttle and his 282-foot yacht, were casualties.

But Trump was able to negotiate deals to retain total or partial control of the casinos and begin his climb back.

Although lenders claimed 49 percent of the Plaza Hotel in 1992, he held onto a controlling interest - and sold that to foreign investors last year for $325 million. He has demonstrated his new tactics by pulling off deals like buying half the Empire State Building without spending any money, instead arranging financing for a group of Asian and European investors in return for 50 percent ownership.

Trump also formed a company to hold his casino assets, Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts Inc., that he took public in June 1995. Trump Hotels now has full ownership of the Atlantic City casinos and Trump's Indiana riverboat casino, while Trump as chairman owns 42 percent of the company.

His undeniable bargaining talents aside, Trump has benefited from never losing his confidence, especially not in front of the microphones and cameras. That inspires others to believe in him, said Lisa Cunningham, a New York image consultant.

``I'm sure while he was not very pleased with the circumstances that he was going through, he had a very good public face and a very good public image,'' Cunningham said.

``He didn't just, when times got tough, let go and just say, `I can't take it. I'm giving up.' He's a fighter,'' she said.

Now, with the real estate market back up and gamblers returning to Atlantic City, the fight is over and Trump is thriving.

This year, he was included on Forbes magazine's roster of the richest Americans (at No. 373) for the first time since 1989, with a listed net worth of $450 million. Trump contended the figure is more like $2 billion, about the level his fortune originally approached before it crashed.

``He went through a most humbling experience and came out the better for it,'' said Marvin Roffman, a casino analyst whose past disbelief in the Trump hype machine led to a well-publicized feud but who now ranks among Trump's supporters.

Under pressure from Trump, Roffman was fired from the brokerage firm Janney Montgomery Scott Inc. in 1990 after questioning the financial prospects of the Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City. He later sued Trump for defamation and received an undisclosed settlement.

Roffman turned out to be right about Taj Mahal, which struggled after its April 1990 opening and was forced into bankruptcy court. After it emerged, Trump surrendered 50 percent ownership of the casino to bondholders in exchange for lower interest payments.

Roffman has since formed his own money management firm and now highly recommends Trump Hotels stock, which started at $14, hit the mid $30s a year later but recently slipped below $16.

Trump's opening of his holdings to public ownership has been his smartest move, as he can more easily raise money through stock offerings and doesn't have to shoulder as much personal debt as he did when he was acquiring properties in the '80s, Roffman said.

``This time he has real net worth,'' said Roffman, who suggested that the experience of having to deal with so much debt has made Trump more cautious.

Trump, 50, shook his head at that notion. ``I've heard that, too, that I've become a little mellow. I don't know that I have,'' he said in an interview in his Trump Tower office.

``Certainly I'm more calm than the negative times. In the bad times . . . I was a wild man - because I was fighting.'' he said.

But the scars of the early 1990s struggle are still there, Trump admitted.

``A lot of my friends, a lot of good people are gone - they're gonzo, they're bankrupt, they're out of business,'' he said.

``It taught me that I was able to handle pressure great. And it also taught me that bad times can happen, that . . . when you're riding high and things are good, it doesn't mean that they're going to be good forever. And I think that's probably not a bad thing to remember.''

The memories of his near collapse, though, show no signs of holding Trump back.

In just the past few months, he has been involved in several deals. Among them: selling his half of New York's Grand Hyatt Hotel for $140 million; buying the Miss Universe, Miss USA and Miss Teen beauty pageants from ITT Corp.; and reportedly planning the world's tallest office building as part of a new home for the New York Stock Exchange.

``I'm the biggest in real estate in Manhattan and I'm the biggest in the casino business,'' said Trump, whose numerous holdings include two Wall Street properties, a private club in Florida and a Manhattan building that houses the new NikeTown store, paying him $10 million a year in rent.

``I'm really at the top of two major industries, and I'm very proud of it,'' he said, standing up and clutching his belt in a modified Napoleon stance, backed by autumn-colored Central Park trees 26 stories below his window.

A number of other new ventures are being considering as well, including a new concept: sharing the formidable Trump name. Since October, he has been in talks with Hard Rock Cafe owner Rank Organisation about converting the Trump's Castle casino into one called Hard Rock Hotel at Trump Marina.

And as his Las Vegas competitors, led by archrival Steve Wynn's Mirage Resorts Inc., plan to move into Atlantic City, Trump continues to study a possible entrance into their market.

Trump said the Las Vegas casino market has been slipping lately, but he would like to expand there when the time is right.

Given his rapid expansion pace, Trump's history of over-building could lead to problems if he decided to go to Vegas, said I. Nelson Rose, a professor at Whittier Law School in Los Angeles and an expert in gambling law.

``If he has a weakness, it's that there's no one around him to tell him, `Just say no. No, you don't need real marble. You don't need stained glass in the ceilings,' '' Rose said, noting that the glitzy Taj Mahal - Atlantic City's biggest casino - cost more than $1 billion.

``Nobody was around him who had the guts to tell him `No, that's a bad idea,' '' he said.

Indeed, Trump's ego is probably his most famous trait. It was in full effect as he walked around his office, using the words ``best,'' ``incredible,'' ``biggest,'' and ``tremendous'' to describe his business.

He stopped for a minute to pose for a photographer and stood quietly for a moment until he took a better look at the camera's lens. It was a wide-angle lens, which Trump hates.

He ordered the photographer to change lenses. ``You know why? You come out all distorted, and you always end up looking like a slob,'' he said.

Out came the flat lens. Like he always seems to, Trump got his wish.

THE DEALS

Some notable assets Donald Trump has lost or sold, held onto, and acquired since the recession of the early 1990s:

GONE:

Grand Hyatt Hotel: Sold his 50 percent stake to partner Hyatt Corp. for $140 million in October.

Plaza Hotel: Lenders assumed 49 percent of landmark in 1992 in exchange for a substantial reduction in debts. Sold remaining 51 percent to Saudi Arabian Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz Saud and Singapore-based CDL Hotels International Ltd. for $325 million in 1995.

Trump Shuttle: Repossessed in 1992, now-defunct carrier was renamed USAir Shuttle run by USAir Group Inc. on behalf of banks.

Trump Princess: Said 282-foot yacht was sold to Boston Safe Deposit and Trust Co., the craft's mortgage holder, for about $40 million in 1991, denying newspaper report it was repossessed.

$14 million and Connecticut mansion: Paid to ex-wife Ivana Trump in 1990 divorce settlement.

STILL AROUND:

Trump Taj Mahal, Trump Plaza and Trump's Castle: Atlantic City hotel-casinos now owned by publicly held Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts Inc., of which Trump controls 42 percent.

Trump Tower: Golden skyscraper on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue that houses offices of the Trump Organization.

NEW ADDITIONS:

Wall Street Properties: 55 Wall, known for rotunda hall known as the Banking Room, being acquired for $20 million by year's end; 40 Wall, former home of Bear Stearns & Co., purchased for $1 million in December 1995.

Beauty Pageants: Bought the Miss Universe, Miss USA and Miss Teen beauty pageants from ITT Corp. in October.

Riverboat Casino: Launched in June in Gary, Ind., owned by Trump Hotels.

Trump World's Fair Casino: Opened in May 1995 as an addition to Trump Plaza.

Empire State Building: Bought half of New York landmark without spending any money, instead arranging financing for a group of Asian and European investors in return for 50 percent ownership, in 1994.

CAPTION(S):

Box, Photo

Photo: Donald Trump has climbed from near bankruptcy to a net worth anywhere from $450 million to $2 billion in six years.

Associated Press

Box: THE DEALS (See text)