Ghostwriter back to haunt Trump

The man who co-wrote the book that made Donald Trump’s name has launched a campaign warning Americans not to vote for him.

‘‘I genuinely believe that if Trump wins and gets the nuclear codes, there is an excellent possibility it will lead to the end of civilisation,’’ said Tony Schwartz, a journalist who shares the credits on Trump’s 1987 bestseller The Art of the Deal.

Speaking to The New Yorker magazine, Schwartz expressed deep regret over helping with the book, which blends memoirs with business advice. It is also a de facto manifesto for Trump’s political career. Some of the strategies the Republican presidential nominee employs on the campaign trail were laid out in the biography 30 years ago.

One example is his willingness to court controversy: the book states that ‘‘good publicity is preferable to bad, but from a bottom-line perspective, bad publicity is sometimes better than no publicity at all’’.

Schwartz spent 18 months with Trump writing the book, for which he received half of the US$500,000 advance and half of the royalties, said to amount to several million dollars. He said he found the experience bewildering, with Trump refusing to answer any of his questions and frequently lying.

It was ‘‘like putting 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 tycoon would abandon voters as soon as he got what he wanted, Schwartz predicted. ‘‘Donald Trump couldn’t care less about the people who are not making it in this world – those people he considers to be losers. The minute that he gets their votes is the last time he will pay attention to them.’’