‘Art of the Deal’ co-author regrets using phrase to push ‘fake marketing idea’ about Trump

by Morgan Gstalter - 01/26/19 10:29 AM ET

The co-author of President Trump’s best-selling 1987 book, “Trump: The Art of the Deal,” said Saturday that he regrets using the phrase to push a “fake marketing idea” about the former business mogul.

“The ‘Art of the Deal’ was a phrase that came out of my mouth 30 years ago as a way for Trump to write an autobiography he didn’t have. It was a fake marketing idea, not a reality,” Tony Schwartz wrote on Twitter. “I regret it every day of my life.”

Schwartz said Trump’s decision on Friday to end the 35-day partial government shutdown “put a final nail in the fantasy I helped to create.”

The “Art of the Deal” was a phrase that came out of my mouth 30 years ago as a way for Trump to write an autobiography he didn’t have. It was a fake marketing idea, not a reality. I regret it every day of my life. Yesterday he put a final nail in the fantasy I helped to create.

— Tony Schwartz (@tonyschwartz) January 26, 2019

Trump, bowing to mounting pressure, conceded defeat on the shutdown Friday, stating that he would sign a short-term funding bill to reopen the government without funds to construct a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. The shutdown began on Dec. 22 amid an impasse between Trump and lawmakers over his demand for $5.7 billion in border wall funding.

Trump warned later Friday that if he cannot get a “fair deal” when the stopgap bill runs out, the government may shut down again. The president suggested he may also declare a national emergency to bypass Congress to build his wall, a move which would likely trigger legal challenges.{mosads}

Schwartz has expressed regret for working with Trump in the past and has since become an outspoken critic of the president.

He tweeted last year that Trump was “incapable of reading a book, much less writing one,” after the president bragged about his writing skills.

Trump, a former New York businessman, touted his negotiating tactics and business prowess as a key asset during his 2016 presidential campaign.

Congressional Democrats, however, have been blasting his negotiation skills throughout the course of the government shutdown.

Democrats saw Friday’s news as a victory following weeks of threats from the White House to keep the federal government closed down for months or “years” absent a funding bill that contained more than $5 billion for the president’s plan to construct a wall along the southern border.

Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.) celebrated a breakthrough in negotiations with a mock-up of “The Art of the Deal” featuring Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on the cover.

“Fixed it,” Takano wrote on Twitter.