by Mike Andrew - SGN Staff Writer

The man who wrote The Art of the Deal for Donald Trump is sorry he did it.

'I put lipstick on a pig,' writer Tony Schwartz told The New Yorker. '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.

'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.'

If he were writing The Art of the Deal today, Schwartz said, it would be a different book with a different title. Asked what he would call it, he answered, 'The Sociopath.'

Celebrities often hire ghostwriters like Schwartz to write books that are billed as 'autobiographies' or 'memoirs.' Unlike many ghostwriters, Schwartz got a cover byline, half the advance, and half the royalties.

In short, The Art of the Deal made him rich, even as it made Trump famous. The book has sold more than a million copies and generated several million dollars in royalties.

According to New Yorker reporter Jane Mayer, Schwartz has decided to pledge all the royalties he earns from The Art of the Deal this year to strategically chosen charities, including the National Immigration Law Center, Human Rights Watch, the Center for the Victims of Torture, the National Immigration Forum, and the Tahirih Justice Center.

Nevertheless, he says he still feels guilty about contributing to the Trump myth.

'I'll carry this until the end of my life,' Schwartz says. 'There's no righting it. But I like the idea that the more copies that The Art of the Deal sells, the more money I can donate to the people whose rights Trump seeks to abridge.'

Mayer says she called Trump for comment on Schwartz's story.

'He's probably just doing it for the publicity,' Trump responded.

'Wow. That's great disloyalty, because I made Tony rich,' Trump added. '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.'

Only minutes after Trump got off the phone with Mayer, he called Schwartz.

'I hear you're not voting for me,' Trump said. 'I just talked to The New Yorker - which, by the way, is a failing magazine that no one reads - and I heard you were critical of me.'

'You're running for president,' Schwartz replied. 'I disagree with a lot of what you're saying.'

'That's your right, but then you should have just remained silent,' Trump said.

'I just want to tell you that I think you're very disloyal. Without me, you wouldn't be where you are now. I had a lot of choice of who to have write the book, and I chose you, and I was very generous with you. I know that you gave a lot of speeches and lectures using The Art of the Deal. I could have sued you, but I didn't.'

'My business has nothing to do with The Art of the Deal,' Schwartz said.

'That's not what I've been told.'

'You're running for President of the United States. The stakes here are high.'

'Yeah, they are,' Trump said. 'Have a nice life.' Then he hung up.

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