It has become almost a tradition in the past decade or so for those who hold the position of President to write “tell-all” memoirs about themselves post-presidency. While Trump was not a traditional president, he is certainly not the type of politician to pass up on any money making ventures. He has officially announced his memoir about his presidential term, but he is yet to sign a deal with any major publishing house for the book.

Some speculate that he will publish the book himself. Recently, he created the “Trump Media and Technology Group”, a business which he says he intends to rival traditional media outlets. That would provide a convenient way to self-publish, but other publishers speculate that he may have another reason to avoid using the major traditional publishing houses.

One unnamed publishing executive told Politico that a likely reason for him to self-publish is so he can avoid the embarrassment of getting a smaller advance for his memoir than Barack Obama. Obama reportedly received a $60 million advance for his memoir, and his wife Michelle Obama’s book was nearly just as successful, and was awarded Book of the Year for 2018.

Both Obama and Trump have written and published books before their presidential memoirs, although Trump’s business manuals were ghostwritten and simply published under his name. Obama’s first book was released in 1995, his second in 2007, and he also wrote a children’s book in 2010, all before releasing his ultra successful presidential memoir “A Promised Land” in 2020.

Trump does not like to be overshadowed by other people, especially his democratic opponents (or even just democrats that once made a joke about him in a presidential roast!) In the wake of Obama’s memoir, his indecision over which publishing company to use, or whether he should just publish himself, is most likely due to the fear of being unable to outrank his predecessor in both his advance as well as his overall sales.

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