Trump's "Art of the Deal" co-author says book should be renamed "The Sociopath"
It's no secret that President Trump's "The Art of the Deal" co-author, Tony Schwartz, disagrees with his former collaborator's politics and current position as president. Schwartz is now doubling down on his distaste for Trump — and the book that helped cement his public image.
Newly-obtained tax information reveals Mr. Trump's businesses claimed more than $1 billion in losses over a period of 10 years in the 1980s and 90s, The New York Times reported Tuesday. After this story broke, Schwartz suggested that maybe the Trump business playbook, "The Art of the Deal," should be discontinued.
"Given the Times report on Trump's staggering losses, I'd be fine if Random House simply took the book out of print," Schwartz tweeted. "Or recategorized it as fiction."
In an interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper on Wednesday, Schwartz said The Times report proves Trump was effectively running a Ponzi scheme during the same time they were writing the book. "It didn't occur to me ... that this whole giant business was thoroughly rotten at the core," Schwartz said.
He also suggested that "The Art of the Deal" should be renamed "The Sociopath" — an insult he has used before.
Schwartz told Cooper the title "Sociopath" is appropriate because "that's a window into why [Trump] doesn't experience the kind of overwhelm of pressure and tension at the level you or I would, or most people would, because he has no conscience, he has no guilt."
He adds, "I do think he is probably aware more walls are closing around him than ever before. He does not experience the world in the way an ordinary human being would." Schwartz encouraged people to Google the term "sociopath" — he said it describes Mr. Trump.
Schwartz also said he believes The Times report reveals tax evasion, and that that he would bet the losses Mr. Trump claimed on his taxes were completely made up. The author said Donald Trump followed in his father's footsteps in doing this.
The Times report revealed Mr. Trump didn't pay federal income taxes for 8 out of those 10 years. "Here's another guess I would make: He has never paid taxes," Schwartz said.
Schwartz has become an outspoken critic of the president and the book, which was published in 1987 and describes the Trump deal-making process in glowing terms. In 2016, Schwartz said he feared the Trump presidency. During an interview with the New Yorker, he said he felt remorse for his role in helping to make Donald Trump "more appealing than he is."
