'Art of the Deal' author says this would be Trump’s 'only limitation' if he wins a 2nd term

18 October 2024

The journalist who ghostwrote former President Donald Trump's most well-known book says his hints at being a "dictator" on "Day One" of a second term should be taken literally.

On Friday, Tony Schwartz — who wrote "The Art of the Deal" 30 years before Trump's ascendancy to the White House — joined MSNBC's Ari Melber to discuss the new film, "The Apprentice," which is currently in theaters. But during one point of their conversation, Schwartz mentioned that Trump has a particularly dangerous personality not suited for public service, which he described as "the absence of conscience" combined with cognitive decline.

"Look, he has one term if he wins and, you know, Anne Applebaum, the writer, is now making connections to what Hitler said and to all of the language of other fascist dictators. That's what he's going to do," Schwartz said. "The only limitation on what Trump will do if he is reelected president is what he can get away with."

As Schwartz mentioned, the Atlantic's Anne Applebaum wrote Friday about how Trump's latest speeches on the campaign trail is eerily similar to the political rhetoric of some of history's most notorious dictators. She particularly remarked at how similar the former president's description of the media as "the enemy of the people," of the political left as "vermin" and immigrants as "poisoning the blood of our country" are to fascist dictators like Adolf Hitler of Germany, Benito Mussolini of Italy and Pol Pot of Cambodia.

"In each of these very different societies, the purpose of this kind of rhetoric was the same," she wrote. "If you connect your opponents with disease, illness, and poisoned blood, if you dehumanize them as insects or animals, if you speak of squashing them or cleansing them as if they were pests or bacteria, then you can much more easily arrest them, deprive them of rights, exclude them, or even kill them."

"If they are parasites, they aren’t human," she continued. "If they are vermin, they don’t get to enjoy freedom of speech, or freedoms of any kind. And if you squash them, you won’t be held accountable."

Applebaum's observation that a dictator won't be held accountable for eradicating enemies they have successfully dehumanized harkens back to Schwartz's point about Trump only being held back by "what he can get away with." And after the Supreme Court's 6-3 decision in the Trump v. United States case, Trump will be able to get away with virtually anything deemed an "official act."

Melber pointed out earlier in his show that if Trump were to follow through on his promise to order the military to shoot migrants at the border, it would be considered an "illegal order" and that enlisted men and women would be duty-bound to say no. But as Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor said when the immunity ruling was handed down, Trump — or any president — would be free to assassinate political rivals with no way for the courts to step in.

""Orders the Navy’s Seal Team 6 to assassinate a political rival? Immune. Organizes a military coup to hold onto power? Immune. Takes a bribe in exchange for a pardon? Immune. Immune, immune, immune," she wrote in her dissent.

Watch Schwartz's segment below, or by clicking this link.

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