--- ---  # Donald Trump Hands His Ghostwriter Cease-and-Desist Letter After Criticism  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Jul 21, 2016 12:47 PM UTC  Random House  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Jul 21, 2016 12:47 PM UTC The [ghostwriter](http://time.com/4410207/donald-trump-ghostwriter-remorse/?iid=sr-link1) credited with writing Donald Trump’s _Art of the Deal_ was served with a cease-and-desist letter by a lawyer for Donald Trump after the author criticized the presumptive Republican nominee for President. “It’s nuts and completely indicative of who he is,” Journalist Tony Schwartz said, confirming the cease-and-desist letter Wednesday on an [interview with MSNBC](http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/art-of-the-deal-ghostwriter-speaks-out-729014339840) . “There’s no basis of anything legal.” The cease-and-desist letter from Trump’s lawyer Jason D. Greenblatt asked that Schwartz pay back “a certified check made payable to Mr. Trump,” according to a New York _Times_ [report](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/21/us/politics/trump-tony-schwartz-book.html?smid=tw-nytimes&smtyp=cu&%5Fr=0). Schwartz had previously told the _New Yorker_ that he wrote all of _Art of the Deal_ despite claims to the contrary by Trump. Schwartz said the Trump of 2016 was evident even when he worked on the book in the 1980s. During the writing process, Trump could not stay focused, often exaggerated the truth and boasted about his own accomplishments, said Schwartz. The book would be better titled “the sociopath,” Schwartz [told the _New Yorker_](http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/07/25/donald-trumps-ghostwriter-tells-all). “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. Donald Trump Lawyer Rebukes Art of the Deal Co-Author ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4416768/tony-schwartz-laywer-trump/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4416768/tony-schwartz-laywer-trump/"},"headline":"Donald Trump Hands His Ghostwriter Cease-and-Desist Letter After Criticism","datePublished":"2016-07-21T12:47:37.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T23:25:55.129Z","description":"“It’s nuts and completely indicative of who he is\"","url":"https://time.com/4416768/tony-schwartz-laywer-trump/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta30db8bf8627c2e6/69889d01524fc05322df8d1f/trump-art-of-the-deal-ssue1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta30db8bf8627c2e6/69889d01524fc05322df8d1f/trump-art-of-the-deal-ssue1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"trump-art-of-the-deal-ssue","caption":"Art of the Deal - Donald Trump and Tony Schwartz","creditText":"Random House","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4416768/tony-schwartz-laywer-trump/","name":"Donald Trump Hands His Ghostwriter Cease-and-Desist Letter After Criticism"}}]}] ```