Elections

Trump's ghostwriter warns a Trump presidency would lead to 'end of civilization'

Trump bankers question his portrayal of financial comeback
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Trump bankers question his portrayal of financial comeback

Tony Schwartz ghostwrote Donald Trump's 1987 memoir "The Art of the Deal," but years later he said he regrets his work.

In an interview with the New Yorker, Schwartz said he "put lipstick on a pig," and that if he were writing the book today it would be called by a very different title: "The Sociopath."

"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," Schwartz told the New Yorker regarding the GOP's presumptive presidential nominee. "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."

Schwartz had a joint byline on the cover of "The Art of the Deal," and earned half of the book's $500,000 advance along with half of the royalties, according to the New Yorker. More than a million copies of the book have been sold, generating millions in royalties.

Read the New Yorker story