Trump Is On The Verge Of Resigning, According To His Ghostwriter

The ghostwriter reportedly behind Donald Trump's The Art of the Deal claims that the president is getting ready to throw in the towel. In a series of tweets published Wednesday, ghostwriter Tony Schwartz predicted Trump would resign from the presidency sooner rather than later.

"The circle is closing at blinding speed. Trump is going to resign and declare victory before Mueller and congress leave him no choice," Schwartz, a man who claims to have ghostwritten Trump's 1987 memoir, said in a statement posted to Twitter on Wednesday. "Trump's presidency is effectively over. Would be amazed if he survives till end of the year. More likely resigns by fall, if not sooner," Schwartz wrote in a separate tweet.

In a series of followup tweets posted in reply to questions from other Twitter users, Schwartz noted that although he thinks Trump will resign, he does not expect the president to admit defeat. Schwartz also predicted Trump would use his resignation to make a deal to stay out of jail. "The Russia stuff will be huge," Schwartz tweeted. "He doesn't want to go to jail."

Schwartz has been an outspoken critic of Trump since the election and even reportedly volunteered as an adviser for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign. In an interview with The New Yorker last June, Schwartz said he felt "a deep sense of remorse" for having helped write The Art of the Deal as the book ultimately appeared to present Trump in a way that "made him more appealing than he is."

"I put lipstick on a pig," Schwartz told The New Yorker.

Interestingly, this isn't the first time Schwartz has said he believes Trump's presidency will end in his resignation. In May, Schwartz told CNN's Anderson Cooper that he believed Trump would likely quit the presidency before his four-year term ended naturally because he has difficulty accepting or dealing with appearing to lose.

"I surely believe that at some point over next period of time, he is going to have to figure out a way to resign," Schwartz said. "The reason he is going to do that as opposed to go through what could be an impeachment process or a continuing humiliation is that 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."

In April, President Trump also fueled speculation of a potential resignation when he admitted that he found the presidency to be harder than he'd initially assumed in an interview with Reuters. "I loved my previous life," Trump told Reuters roughly 100 days into his presidency. "I had so many things going. This is more work than in my previous life. I thought it would be easier."

For now, however, speculation on Trump's potential resignation remains exactly that, speculation. And only time will tell how, and when, Trump's presidency will end.