Art of the Deal Co-Author Says Trump’s Post-Presidency Could Be Radically Diminished Due to Twitter Ban: ‘As if Donald Trump Doesn’t Exist Anymore’
Art of the Deal co-author and long-time Donald Trump whisperer Tony Schwartz said his former collaborator’s post-presidential life could be plagued by a radical loss of power and prestige if he continues to be deprived of his biggest social media megaphones.
Speaking with CNN’s Anderson Cooper, Schwartz discussed how even Trump’s rumored final departure from the White House on Inauguration Day — hours before his term officially ends at noon — speaks to his quickly ebbing authority.
“Not only is the president not going to the inauguration, which is kind of a sign of how small he is, he’s leaving D.C. in the morning apparently, at least, in part so he doesn’t have to ask the new administration to use Air Force One after noontime when he’s no longer president,” Cooper pointed out. “Do you think he views having to ask President Biden for use of the plane as form of concession?”
“Oh, my god, yes,” Schwartz replied. “It’s always for Donald a binary choice between dominance and submission, and the reality is that he has to submit now but he is certainly not going to actively participate in that submission.”
Cooper then asked about what he thought Trump would actually do with his time all day once he leaves the White House.
“Does he stay at Mar-a-Lago? Does he grow disenchanted there and want to come back to New York a lot?” Cooper wondered. “I can’t imagine him stuck in Mar-A-Lago hanging out by the bar, you know, listening to, you know, hangers-on come around and him table-hopping. I guess that’s what he does is table hop and complain about the lost election.”
“I can’t, either, Anderson,” Schwartz agreed. “I would imagine that Trump is going to — the most striking thing about Trump in the last week is not what he’s asking for and not what he’s ostensibly saying because we’re not actually hearing it from him, it’s the fact that he’s off Twitter. And guess what? It’s as if Donald Trump doesn’t exist anymore when he’s not on Twitter.”
(h/t Mediaite)
