Simon & Schuster Canada
Donald Trump's book cover.
The Republican presidential candidate discussed how he named the book at a Wednesday campaign rally in Iowa.
"I was going to say the 'Make America Great Again Book.' Eh, it's too nice, because our country's in trouble," Trump recalled thinking. "Then I was going to say 'Greatness in America.' Then I said, 'It's too nice.'"
But then the business mogul said an angry photo of himself inspired a harsher title.
"Then I had a photographer come up. Then I said, 'Do you think I should be smiling?'" Trump said. "Then there was one picture that was just mean. It was a horrible, horrible, mean picture. Like a nasty-looking guy. ... I said, 'We're going to call it, 'Crippled America.' Because that's what it is. It's 'Crippled America.'"
Trump said he was surprised that a "Rolls-Royce" publishing company like Simon & Schuster let him use such a potentially controversial title: "I said, 'I think they probably won't allow that title to be used.' Because it's a tough title, nasty title."
But apparently there weren't any massive objections to the name.
The Washington Post reported Wednesday that "Crippled America" will serve as a "campaign manifesto" for Trump, and the book's Amazon description says it will be his "blueprint for how to Make America Great Again." Presidential candidates often release books outlining their policy agendas.
"It's actually the hardest I've worked on a book since 'The Art of the Deal,'" Trump told The Post, referring to his 1987 bestseller that he frequently touts on the campaign trail. "I don't want to have a stupid statement in the book that people are going to say, 'Hey, why did he say that?'"
At his Wednesday campaign rally, Trump repeatedly stated that he was offered "a lot of money" to write the book, which he said he'll donate to charity.
"I worked so hard on it," he said. "Frankly, I think the title is amazing. And I used that horrible picture of me. It's a horrible picture."