No matter which side of the political divide you currently reside, there's no denying that current White House incumbent Donald Trump is... unlike anything we've ever seen before in American politics. Riding into the Oval Office atop a wave of political discourse and what we'll call 'immigration concerns', the 45th President of the United States is perhaps its most controversial so far.
When you tune into your favourite news outlet or hang out on social media and take note of the latest controversy to emerge from the presidential camp, you probably have a variation on one of two thoughts. You're either thinking "wow, this Trump guy is really shaking up the establishment!", or you're going: "wow, this Trump guy seems to be an actual crazy person. Wait: what do you mean it's only been 18 months?!"
Donald Trump may have only recently made the transition from public figure to politician, but the co-author of his most famous book seems to think that the President of the United States has lost his mind. He says that Trump's well on the way to transitioning from hackneyed-80s-movie-villain crazy to may-instigate-nuclear-war crazy.
What's more: he's not going to stand quietly by and let that happen.
You may know of Donald Trump's book the Art of the Deal, released back in 1987, which condenses Trump's business ideologies into a collection of glorious soundbites ("If you’re going to be thinking anyway, you might as well think big!"). What you may or may not know (or be surprised by) is that Trump had some help writing the Art of the Deal; from none other than journalist and author Tony Schwartz.
Speaking to CNN on Sunday, Schwartz said in no uncertain terms: Donald Trump is losing his mind. "We are in a true emergency," claimed Schwartz on CNN, adding: "The accelerated rate at which his breakdown or decomposition is occurring is cause for us, and certainly for me, to come on to TV more often, to tweet more often.”
Um... yeah. Sure. More public appearances and tweets are definitely what we need right now.
Talking to CNN's Brian Stelter, Schwartz said he felt comfortable making such a bold claim because he's a 25-year student of psychology, also claiming that he had dedicated "an enormous amount of time” with shrinks trying their best to understand who, what, and maybe even why Donald Trump is who he is. Plus, as a journalist himself, Schwartz feels for his professional brethren as they try in vain to address the president.
“I believe the republic is in enormous risk that goes far beyond what most journalists are comfortable saying and what the general public, therefore — it doesn’t really fully understand,” Schwartz said, but please take this journalist's words with a pinch of salt; as Stelter correctly pointed out, Schwartz did already predict that Trump was on the verge of resigning. Which obviously did not happen.
“He wants to figure out a way, as he has done all his career, to turn a loss into a victory…. So he will declare victory when he leaves," claimed Stelter last May, as the Robert Mueller probe loomed large, casting an ominous shadow on the White House lawn.
“You’re right, I completely missed it,” admitted Schwartz last Sunday.
"I think I underestimated the enormous attachment he would have to being in that office. I think he likes meeting all of these people and he particularly likes dominating these people.”
With the last 18 months bringing mass protests and petty squabbles, not to mention countless firings and indictments across the entire presidential team, it's no surprise that Tony Schwartz thinks Donald Trump is losing his mind, nor is it any surprise that he's made some inaccurate predictions in the past.
Still, can't blame a guy for trying to understand Donald Trump, can you? Man's an enigma.
