--- title: Donald Trump Ghostwritter: I Have a 'Deep Sense of Remorse' description: Art of the Deal author: "I contributed to presenting Trump in a way that brought him wider attention and made him more appealing than he is” canonical: https://time.com/4410207/donald-trump-ghostwriter-remorse/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-07-18T12:01:42.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:55:19.790Z article:section: Politics og:title: Donald Trump Ghostwritter: I Have a 'Deep Sense of Remorse' og:description: Art of the Deal author: "I contributed to presenting Trump in a way that brought him wider attention and made him more appealing than he is” og:url: https://time.com/4410207/donald-trump-ghostwriter-remorse/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc2a24959ff6eb0ae/69889c483c1639728b45e129/donald-trump3.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4992 og:image:height: 2808 og:image:alt: Donald Trump Holds Campaign Rally In Dallas og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Donald Trump Ghostwritter: I Have a 'Deep Sense of Remorse' twitter:description: Art of the Deal author: "I contributed to presenting Trump in a way that brought him wider attention and made him more appealing than he is” twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc2a24959ff6eb0ae/69889c483c1639728b45e129/donald-trump3.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Donald Trump's Ghostwriter Admits 'Deep Sense of Remorse' > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=bc59501a-b680-42fd-87e2-19d74127890f&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: I’ve Photographed Donald Trump More Than Anyone Else [Watch (HLS stream): I’ve Photographed Donald Trump More Than Anyone Else](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/z8PqZwEN.m3u8) (2:44)  _Published 2016-07-14. Photographs by Harry Benson_ by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Jul 18, 2016 12:01 PM UTC  Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at the American Airlines Center in Dallas on Sept. 14, 2015. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at the American Airlines Center in Dallas on Sept. 14, 2015. Tom Pennington—Getty Images by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Jul 18, 2016 12:01 PM UTC If [Donald Trump](http://time.com/tag/donald-trump/) needed his 1987 memoir written today, his ghostwriter Tony Schwartz would suggest a different title. “The Sociopath,” Schwartz told the [_New Yorker_](http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/07/25/donald-trumps-ghostwriter-tells-all) in a recent interview. Schwartz, who was a lauded journalist when Trump tapped him to write the _Art of the Deal_ in the late ’80s, says he’s remorseful about having written the book. “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.” The writer said he hadn’t spoken publicly about Trump until the [2015 launch of the business mogul and reality TV star’s presidential campaign](http://time.com/3922770/donald-trump-campaign-launch/). When the mogul listed _Deal_ as one of his qualifying accomplishments he fired off a pithy tweet: “Many thanks Donald Trump for suggesting I run for President, based on the fact that I wrote ‘The Art of the Deal,’ ” he said at the time. In the _New Yorker_ interview, Schwartz suggested a Trump presidency might not end well for the world. “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,” he said. Read the entire interview at the [_New Yorker_](http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/07/25/donald-trumps-ghostwriter-tells-all). ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] I've photographed Donald Trump for the last 40 years. [ BLANK_AUDIO ] I want people to be. What they think they are. No, what I think they are. I don't like telling people before what I wanna do. I just wanna do it, you know what I mean. [ BLANK_AUDIO ] You come up with an idea, he jumps on it, right away. I think that's great for a photographer. That Donald Trump. [ MUSIC ] I went down to Atlantic City to photograph him. And I had him with slot machines and over there in In a cage where they keep the money. And he said to me I can go over there and get $ 1 million anytime I want. And I said you know Donald I've never seen $ 1 million in my life. I'd like you to go over there and get it. [ INAUDIBLE ] What you're doing, you're telling the truth. You're photographing what you see, letting them be themselves. [ MUSIC ] Photos can take on a whole new meaning years later. Who was standing here. It's history. I remember. It was one of the first times I saw somebody with a car phone. I like the picture because you see the world. Moving by and he's in the limo. It looks like he's running for President. [ MUSIC ] He hadn't changed. The man I met the other day there. That was him from the beginning. [ MUSIC ] Of all the presidents I've photographed, I would say Trump is nearer Ronald Regan than he is to Jimmy Carter. [ LAUGH ] They know people are looking at them all the time. Regan couldn't disappear And neither can Trump. Characters like that come around not that often. The larger than life. Every time you left him, you had a photograph. 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