‘Art of the Deal’ Ghostwriter Worries ‘If Trump Wins and Gets the Nuclear Codes’

Says Book Should Be Called ‘The Sociopath’

As Republicans gather in Cleveland for their national convention this week, the ghostwriter responsible for Donald Trump’s autobiography Art of the Deal regrets his role in bringing the Republican Party’s presumptive nominee to national prominence. Tony Schwartz, who shares a byline with Trump on the 1987 bestseller and who shadowed Trump closely for 18 months in preparation, tells the New Yorker that he feels “a deep sense of remorse that I contributed to presenting Trump in a way that brought him wider attention and made him more appealing than he is.”

The explosive profile chronicles the development of “The Art of the Deal,” and the challenges of making a man who Schwartz describes as “The Sociopath” appear to be a sympathetic hero-capitalist and all-around family man. Schwartz depicts Trump in a vastly different light than the brilliant financial operator described in the book.

“He has no attention span,” says Schwartz, adding that this lack of focus has left Trump with “a stunning level of superficial knowledge and plain ignorance.” Schwartz casts Trump as a man with a shocking lack of intellectual depth. “I seriously doubt that Trump has ever read a book straight through in his adult life,” he said.

Regarding the possibility of a Trump presidency, Schwartz was unequivocal. “If he had to be briefed on a crisis in the Situation Room, it’s impossible to imagine him paying attention over a long period of time.” The stakes could not be higher, according to Schwartz. “I genuinely believe that if Trump wins and gets the nuclear codes there is an excellent possibility it will lead to the end of civilization.”

Schwartz told “Good Morning America” the book is full of falsehoods and he regrets writing it:

His biggest regret is the degree to which the book serves as an example of Trump’s presidential qualifications. “I put lipstick on a pig,” Schwartz admits. 

“Our country needs a truly great leader, and we need a truly great leader now,” Trump said during his campaign announcement. “We need a leader that wrote ‘The Art of the Deal.'”

Stunned, Schwartz responded on twitter.

Clearly, his role in constructing the Trump myth haunts Schwartz, who will be donating his 2016 royalties from the book to charity. “I’ll carry this until the end of my life,” he said. “There’s no righting it. But I like the idea that, the more copies that ‘The Art of the Deal’ sells, the more money I can donate to the people whose rights Trump seeks to abridge.”

 

Image: Screenshot via Good Morning America/Twitter