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No, Donald Trump did not say in ‘The Art of the Deal’ that ‘being an atheist’ helped him in business
An inflammatory quotation about atheism and Christianity appears to pit President Donald Trump against evangelicals. But the resurfaced social media meme is not true.
A post on Facebook displays the front cover of Trump’s 1987 book "The Art of the Deal," spotlighting an excerpt that purportedly says, "Being an atheist gives me an edge in every deal. Christians are too moral for business."
The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)
The quote is made up. We could find no passage in multiple searches of electronic versions of "The Art of the Deal" that contains those words, or anything close to it. The book is particularly devoid of religious terms.
While the Trump quote is made up, a quote from a New York Times review included along the bottom of the meme is real: "Trump makes one believe for a moment in the American dream again." It comes from a Dec. 7, 1987, review by Christopher Lehmann-Haupt and has been featured on the front cover of some editions of the book.
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This isn’t the first time Trump has been called an atheist.
During the 2016 presidential campaign, memes popped up that claimed he once said he was an atheist on the Phil Donahue Show in 1989. That rumor was quickly debunked, as there was not only no record of Trump every saying that, he also did not appear on Donahue’s show in 1989. The image was actually from his appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show in 1988 (and he didn’t claim to be an atheist during that interview, either).
Featured Fact-check
A Facebook post claims that in his book "The Art of the Deal," Trump said "being an atheist give me an edge in every deal. Christians are too moral for business."
Those words could not be found anywhere in the business book and appear to be fabricated.
This faux quote is Pants on Fire!
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Our Sources
Facebook post, April 15, 2019
Google Books, The Art of the Deal, Accessed April 16, 2019
Archive.org, The Art of the Deal, Accessed April 16, 2019
New York Times Archives, Books of The Times, Dec. 7, 1987
TruthorFiction, Donald Trump: Being an Atheist Gives Me a Business Edge-Fiction!, July 18, 2017
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More by Samantha Putterman
No, Donald Trump did not say in ‘The Art of the Deal’ that ‘being an atheist’ helped him in business
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