ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, NJ—Billy Procida, president of Procida Funding & Advisors, has some advice for Donald Trump as the billionaire developer prepares for this evening's Republican Presidential Debates.

Trump should focus on a message of “Build, build, build,” says Procida, who once worked for Trump, and shared some of his thoughts in an exclusive interview with GlobeSt.com this afternoon.

“His direction has got to be more about rebuilding America,” Procida says. “He's a builder. He should stick with the fact that the single biggest challenge America has is rebuilding its inner cities, which is what puts people to work.”

Procida outlined his advice to Trump in an open letter circulated as a commentary article this morning. “It was a message to Donald saying, 'Play to your strength. You know how to build and what we need right now is a builder to rebuild America,” Procida says.

Trump has a reputation for hiring good managers, says Procida, and as president he will probably hire the people sharing the debate stage with him tonight to be part of his cabinet.

“Donald knows how to create jobs,” says Procida. “The guy's created thousands and thousands of jobs, and those jobs cross all spectrums of executives and labor. As he gets further down the road, he will start acting more presidential.”

In his commentary, Procida noted Trump's involvement in high profile efforts to rebuild parts of New York City.

“People don't talk anymore about his rebuilding of the Hyatt at Grand Central Station in 1980. The area fell into decay, the city was going broke and Trump stepped in and built the Grand Hyatt and immediately gave life to an area of New York that was an iconic spot that the City of New York let fall into decay,” Procida writes. “When the city couldn't finish Wollman Rink, Trump stepped in and got it opened in a year. He is a builder by trade and that has created over 100,000 jobs and generated billions of tax revenue.”

Abandonment of the inner cities by state and federal governments, in Procida's view, is the critical problem facing the country. “The message he's got to get out there is that he's going to focus on rebuilding America's inner cities. All you need is to take one year's foreign aid and you can rebuild the cities,” Procida says.

Procida is also critical of the other candidates, many of whom are governors and senators, for expecting taxpayers to fund their quest for the presidency.

“Where else could you go be a boss today, and say, 'hey, I'm going to spend the next three months looking for a job, and by the way, I want you to pay me while I'm looking for a job and if I don't get it, I want my old job back,'” Procida says.

You can hear our conversation with Billy Procida in this audio news report.

Instant Insights /

Procida Urges Trump to Focus on 'Build, Build, Build,' Not Foreign Policy

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