IN AN EXTENDED interview with The New Yorker, Donald Trump’s ghostwriter Tony Schwartz said that he had “put lipstick on a pig.”
Schwartz said that he was deeply remorseful and regrets writing the book The Art of the Deal.
He felt he had to speak out before it was too late. “I genuinely believe that if Trump wins and gets the nuclear codes, there is an excellent possibility it will lead to the end of civilisation.”
Speaking to Good Morning America, Schwartz said: “I haven’t slept a night through since Donald Trump announced (he was running) for president.”
I never in a million years thought he would run for president. If I had thought that 30 years ago I never would have written the book… I never thought it was important to speak out. I now feel it’s my civic duty.
The Art of the Deal
Schwartz says that if he were writing The Art of the Deal today, it would be called The Sociopath.
The Art of the Deal, published in 1987, talks about Trump’s childhood, his work in Brooklyn and his move to Manhattan and building the Trump Organisation including the Hyatt Hotels and Trump Tower. The book has an 11-step formula for making it big in business, including ‘Step 1 – Think Big’.
Schwartz spent 18 months with Trump, following him around, listening in on calls, tagging along to meetings and spending weekends at his Palm Beach estate.
The book spent 51 weeks at the number one spot on the New York Times’ bestseller list.
Schwartz now admits the book was “full of falsehoods.”
“Lying is second nature to him”
Schwartz said that while researching the book, he found that Trump had often lied about deals. Schwartz didn’t include unflattering incidents or details, including when Trump forced through an unfavourable deal for his partner Jay Pritzker, the head of the Hyatt Hotel chain, when he was on a mountain in Nepal and could not be reached.
Lying is second nature to him. More than anyone else I have ever met, Trump has the ability to convince himself that whatever he is saying at any given moment is true, or sort of true, or at least ought to be true.
He said that Trump had no ideology or beliefs, except that he should prevail in the end.
Every American ought to be concerned about his character.
“Doubt that Trump has ever read a book”
According to Schwartz and the publisher, Howard Kaminsky, Trump did not write any of the book apart from a few mentions of business colleagues.
https://twitter.com/tonyschwartz/status/644304700884582400
“I seriously doubt that Trump has ever read a book straight through in his adult life,” Schwartz said.
It’s impossible to keep him focussed on any topic, other than his own self-aggrandisement, for more than a few minutes and even then… If he had to be briefed on a crisis on the Situation Room, it’s impossible to imagine him paying attention over a long period of time.
Trump acknowledged Schwartz as his co-author but insisted he wrote his memoir.
He didn’t write the book… I wrote the book. It was my book.
In response to the article, Trump said:
I made Tony rich. He owes a lot to me. I helped him when he didn’t have two cents in his pocket. It’s great disloyalty.
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