Donald Trump’s own ghostwriter has now received a lawyer’s letter from the combative Republican nominee, following his less-than-complimentary assessment of Trump when working together on the best selling “Art of the Deal” book.
Tony Schwartz made his cutting assessment on Trump during an MSNBC interview, which resulted in a cease and desist letter arriving from Trump’s lawyers which the NY Times reported required the writer to forfeit the money he made from the book.
“It’s nuts and completely indicative of who he is,” The Times quotes Schwartz as saying. “There’s no basis of anything legal. I suspect that Donald Trump called up his chief legal officer and said ‘Go after that guy and do whatever you have to do.'”
“The Art of the Deal,” published in 1987 (a memorable year for stock investors) and was written in the 1980s and his account of what happened was published in a New Yorker article which created a stir among Trump supporters and detractors alike.
Mr Schwartz said he had a “deep sense of remorse” for his role in contributing to Trump’s celebrity status and could see a Trump presidency leading to “the end of civilization.”
If he had written the book today he would call it “The Sociopath”, he wrote – as here:
“I put lipstick on a pig,” he said. “I feel 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.” He went on, “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.”
If he were writing “The Art of the Deal” today, Schwartz said, it would be a very different book with a very different title. Asked what he would call it, he answered, “The Sociopath.”
The New Yorker article provides some interesting insights into Trump the man, Trump the ego, Trump the pubescent politician:
In those days, Schwartz recalls, Trump was generally affable with reporters, offering short, amusingly immodest quotes on demand. Trump had been forthcoming with him during the New York interview, but it hadn’t required much time or deep reflection. For the book, though, Trump needed to provide him with sustained, thoughtful recollections. He asked Trump to describe his childhood in detail. After sitting for only a few minutes in his suit and tie, Trump became impatient and irritable. He looked fidgety, Schwartz recalls, “like a kindergartner who can’t sit still in a classroom.” Even when Schwartz pressed him, Trump seemed to remember almost nothing of his youth, and made it clear that he was bored. Far more quickly than Schwartz had expected, Trump ended the meeting.
Trump in the meantime said he never liked Schwartz. Feelings’ mutual, we guess.
