Trump’s Ghostwriter Says He Regrets Putting “Lipstick On a Pig”

Tony Schwartz said he wouldn’t have been able to forgive himself if he stayed quiet and Trump won the election.

Schwartz says he fears a Trump presidency. (Photo: AP)

The ghostwriter of Donald Trump’s bestselling 1987 memoir “The Art of the Deal” regrets his role in creating the image of Trump as a successful deal maker – the foundation of his presidential campaign.

Tony Schwartz said he fears a Trump presidency and feels remorse for making Trump “more appealing than he is.”

Schwartz told The New Yorker magazine:

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.

Tony Schwartz shared credit as a co-author with Trump in ‘Art of the Deal’. (Photo: Reuters)

Schwartz also said that he feels he sold out on his former career as a journalist when he agreed to share Trump’s half-million-dollar advance to write the book.

“The Art of the Deal” led to Trump’s starring role in the reality TV show “The Apprentice.”

Schwartz said he “put lipstick on a pig” in his portrayal of Trump.

After having turned down an offer from Trump to write a sequel, Schwartz decided to speak out because he wouldn’t have been able to forgive himself if he stayed quiet and Trump won the election.

Schwartz, who shared credit as a co-author with Trump, said he wrote the book largely by himself, with minor editing by Trump. In an interview with The New Yorker, Trump acknowledged Schwartz as his co-author, but insisted he wrote his own memoir.

He owes a lot to me. I helped him when he didn’t have two cents in his pocket. It’s great disloyalty. I guess he thinks it’s good for him but – he’ll find out it’s not good for him.

Donald Trump

Schwartz said that if he was writing the book today, the title would be “The Sociopath.”