''Trump: The Art of the Comeback'' is a 1997 book written by businessman and future President of the United States,

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

and journalist

Kate Bohner Kate Bohner (born April 14, 1967) is an American investment banker, journalist, author, and an active C-Suite executive holding a multitude of senior positions within global financial services firms. She specializes in Crisis Management and "Tec ...

Synopsis

In the book, Donald Trump writes about his bankruptcy in 1990 and how he managed to "comeback" through negotiations. In the book, Trump notably revealed that he was " a germ freak" and "often thought of taking out a series of newspaper ads encouraging the abolishment of the

handshake A handshake is a globally widespread, brief greeting or parting tradition in which two people grasp one of each other's like hands, in most cases accompanied by a brief up-and-down movement of the grasped hands. Customs surrounding handshakes a ...

." Trump also explains why he divorced

Ivana Trump Ivana Marie Trump (, ; February 20, 1949 – July 14, 2022) was a Czech-American businesswoman, media personality, socialite, fashion designer, author, and model. Ivana lived in Canada in the 1970s before relocating to the United States and m ...

and

Marla Maples Marla Ann Maples (born October 27, 1963) is an American actress, television personality, model, singer and presenter. She was the second wife of Donald Trump. They married in 1993, two months after the birth of their daughter Tiffany, and div ...

, his first two wives; he claims that Trump talked too much about work while Maples wanted him to return earlier. Trump's accounts were denied by both ex-wives. Trump also criticizes journalist

Tina Brown Christina Hambley Brown, Lady Evans (born 21 November 1953), is an English journalist, magazine editor, columnist, talk-show host, and author of ''The Diana Chronicles'' (2007) a biography of Diana, Princess of Wales, '' The Vanity Fair Diarie ...

, claiming that she reneged on a promise to write favorably about him in the past. Trump called Brown "the worst," stating, "She's totally overrated. I think she's third-rate at best. If you look at Vanity Fair, it's a better magazine today than when she ran it." Brown was also the wife of

Harold Evans Sir Harold Matthew Evans (28 June 192823 September 2020) was a British-American journalist and writer. In his career in his native Britain, he was editor of ''The Sunday Times'' from 1967 to 1981, and its sister title ''The Times'' for a year f ...

, who was the president of

Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...

at the time. Trump also lists the "problems ehad with her (

Alicia Machado Yoseph Alicia Machado Fajardo (; born December 6, 1976) is a Venezuelan-American actress, TV host, singer and beauty queen who was Miss Venezuela 1995 and then Miss Universe 1996. She was the fourth woman from Venezuela to be named Miss Univer ...

)", the winner of

Miss Universe Miss Universe is an annual international beauty pageant that is run by a United States and Thailand based Miss Universe Organization.Natalie Tadena (July 2, 2015"Donald Trump's Miss USA Pageant Lands on Reelz Cable Channel". ''The Wall Stre ...

in 1996, including her weight gain and her criticism of Trump in an interview with ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

''. The book also offers ten tips for success:

1. PLAY GOLF
2. STAY FOCUSED
3. BE PARANOID
4. BE PASSIONATE
5. GO AGAINST THE TIDE
6. GO WITH YOUR GUT
7. WORK WITH PEOPLE YOU LIKE
8. BE LUCKY
9. GET EVEN
10. ALWAYS HAVE A PRENUPTIAL AGREEMENT

Writing

After the release of Trump's 1990 book, '' Trump: Surviving at the Top'', he said that his next book "will be the real story, describing my comeback and the success of it all." Trump said he would write the book "in a couple of years."

Peter Osnos Peter L.W. Osnos (born October 13, 1943) is an American journalist who is the founder of PublicAffairs Books. Early life Osnos was born in India to a Jewish refugee family from Warsaw, Poland. He is the son of Joseph Osnos and Marta Osnos, wh ...

, the editor for ''Surviving at the Top'', said, "If Donald's career unfolds the way he is determined it will, his next book will make a great story." Trump said he was asked by Random House to write ''The Art of the Comeback'', his third book, after the company was impressed by his emergence from bankruptcy. According to Trump's niece, Mary L. Trump, he briefly hired her as a ghostwriter for this book, but gave her little information to work with and eventually removed her from the project. On August 1, 1997, eight hours before the deadline, the final draft of the book was turned in.

's life as Trump's

ghostwriter A ghostwriter is hired to write literary or journalistic works, speeches, or other texts that are officially credited to another person as the author. Celebrities, executives, participants in timely news stories, and political leaders often ...

was documented by her "best friend",

Candace Bushnell Candace Bushnell (born December 1, 1958) is an American author, journalist, and television producer. She wrote a column for ''The New York Observer'' (1994–96) that was adapted into the bestselling ''Sex and the City'' anthology. The book was ...

, of ''New York Observer''. While writing for Trump, Bohner was nicknamed "Kateso".

Reception

Fred Andrews of ''The New York Times'' wrote "The man combines imagination with muscle. If only he could keep his mouth shut" and noted that "Trump is forever saying the obvious, as though his perceptions were original or important." Meanwhile, Craig Offman of ''Salon (website), Salon'' noted that Trump "admits he suffers from an even greater political liability: honesty."

References

{{Donald Trump, state=expanded 1997 non-fiction books American memoirs Biographies about businesspeople Books about companies Books about Donald Trump Books by Donald Trump, Art of the Comeback Collaborative non-fiction books Finance books Random House books Self-help books Books written by presidents of the United States