- In today’s CEO Daily: Diane Brady gets some perspective from a Trump associate on why the president is so exorcized about Jeffrey Epstein.
- The big story: Trump humiliates Powell.
- The markets: Down across the board.
- Analyst notes from EY-Parthenon on Fed independence, ING on home sales, and Wedbush on Tesla.
- Plus: All the news and watercooler chat from Fortune.
Good morning. I once asked Donald Trump if he had ever turned down an offer to put his name on a product. His answer: coffins.
It didn’t matter that these were gorgeous, high-end coffins, he explained. He didn’t want his name associated with death. There was nothing aspirational or success-oriented about that. Coffins, he told me, were “off-brand.”
This was in 2007, a year when Trump had his own brand of vodka, steaks, water, furniture, shirts, suits, and ties, alongside the hotels, casinos, golf courses, modeling agency, educational company, and other ventures bearing his name. While the future president may have been battling critics over his net worth and decision to let Miss USA Tara Conner retain her crown if she entered rehab, he was still a media celebrity who was much in demand.
I was interviewing him at Trump Tower on a day when he was giving $10,000 to Wesley Autrey, a construction worker who had jumped on a subway track to save a man’s life. “In life, you have fighters and nonfighters. You have winners and losers,” Trump told me. “I am both a fighter and a winner.”
I thought of that this week after speaking to someone in Trump’s circle about the president’s desire to distance himself from any mention of his name next to Jeffrey Epstein. This associate framed the issue as one of personal branding. It didn’t matter if Trump’s association with Epstein was before the financier was accused of sex trafficking, this person argued. “Epstein will forever be a loser in people’s minds and Donald Trump doesn’t hang out with losers,” they said. “It’s off-brand.”
Contact CEO Daily via Diane Brady at diane.brady@fortune.com
