Trump's Art of the Deal should be 'recategorised as fiction' in light of president's 'staggering' losses, book's co-author suggests

'I'd be fine if Random House simply took the book out of print,' says Tony Schwartz

Donald Trump’s Art of the Deal co-author has suggested it be marketed as a work of fiction in the light of reports showing Mr Trump’s businesses lost more than $1bn (£765) in the 1980s and 90s.

The real estate mogul lost so much money he did not pay income tax for eight years, documents first uncovered by The New York Times showed.

Tony Schwartz, his co-author, said on Twitter: “Given the Times report on Trump’s staggering losses, I’d be fine if Random House simply took the book out of print. Or recategorised it as fiction.”

However, the US president tweeted in response to the initial reports that “you always wanted to show losses for tax purposes ... almost all real estate developers did”, hinting that some of the losses may have part of been a “tax shelter” scheme.

Mr Schwartz’s comments came after Steven Mnuchin, the treasury secretary, was accused of breaking the law by refusing to release Mr Trump’s more recent tax returns.

And New York state has passed legislation that seeks to limit the president’s ability to withhold his tax returns from Congress.

The state senate backed a bill on Wednesday that would force local agencies to hand over tax returns to a number of congressional and senate committees if asked.