"The Art of the Deal" Author Speaks Out On Donald [t]Rump

Back when Donald [t]Rump announced his candidacy for the presidency, he touted his book, “the Art of the Deal,” as one of the major reasons he could, and should , be President. 

Sadly, the man who actually wrote the book — [t]Rump]s ghostwriter Tony Schwartz — begs to differ. Schwartz, who earned a joint byline and half the 1987 memoir’s advance and royalties, spent 18 months with [t]Rump and got to know the man, the myth, the ego, quite well. But, um, yeah, to paraphrase Christina Crawford, speaking to her mother Joan, right before that epic slap in Mommie Dearest, he is not one of [t]Rump’s fans:

“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.”

“One of the most deep and basic needs he has is to prove that ‘I’m richer than you.'”

“He’s a living black hole.”

Schwartz says that if he had written the book today it would be called “The Sociopath”:

“Trump didn’t fit any model of human being I’d ever met. He was obsessed with publicity, and he didn’t care what you wrote.”

“It’s impossible to keep him focused on any topic, other than his own self-aggrandizement, for more than a few minutes.”

“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.”

“Donald pisses ice water. He’d like people when they were helpful, and turn on them when they weren’t. It wasn’t personal. He’s a transactional man—it was all about what you could do for him.”

“The notion that he’s a self-made man is a joke. But I guess they couldn’t call the book ‘The Art of My Father’s Deals.'”

“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.”

Schwartz now says he deeply regrets his role in helping [t]Rump promote himself and, just when I was about to wonder if he’d give back the money he made from the book, announced that he will be donating all  of this year’s royalties from the book to the National Immigration Law Center, Human Rights Watch, the Center for the Victims of Torture, the National Immigration Forum and the Tahirih Justice Center.

“I’ll carry this until the end of my life. 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.”

And snap.

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