And Make Sure You Call Him "Sir"

Who is right? A former all-pro offensive tackle for the New York Giants or arguably the most charismatic sports personality in the nation? As a sort-of friend from my youth would say, "you have three guesses- and the first two don't count."

This guy is a clown. The corruption is OFF the charts but he bends the knee to a con job. https://t.co/CfGiWzxQ1E

— Jumbo Elliott (@JumboElliott76) May 6, 2025

The New York Times reports 

For months, Mr. Trump’s forays into crypto have created ethical conflicts with little precedent in presidential history. As he markets digital currencies to the public, Mr. Trump has also appointed regulators who are scaling back crypto enforcement and called for legislation that would boost the industry’s prospects in the United States.

As news of the dinner invitation spread on social media, the memecoin’s price surged more than 60 percent, suggesting that investors were rushing to accumulate enough coins to qualify for a dinner seat.

“This is really incredible,” said Corey Frayer, who oversaw crypto policy for the Securities and Exchange Commission during the Biden administration. “They are making the pay-to-play deal explicit.”

A business entity linked to Mr. Trump owns a large tranche of the coins, meaning the president personally profits every time the price increases, at least on paper. Mr. Trump and his business partners also collect fees when the coins are traded, a windfall that amounted to nearly $100 million in the weeks after the coin debuted in January.

Victoria Haneman, a law professor at Creighton University, said the offering raised concerns about the ways Mr. Trump and his businesses “may maneuver to profit off the presidency."

Noah Bookbinder, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics, suggests (emphasis his) the possibility "we (n)ever saw anything as blatant as this meme coin dinner "not sure we ever saw anything as blatant as this meme coin dinner." The Times explains 

The flashy online announcement called it “the most EXCLUSIVE INVITATION in the World,” a chance to have “an intimate private dinner” with President Trump at his members-only golf club in Virginia, followed by a tour of the White House.

A seat would be reserved for each of the top 220 investors in $TRUMP, a cryptocurrency that Mr. Trump launched on the eve of his inauguration.

In an astonishing escalation of the Trump family’s efforts to profit from crypto, a website promoting $TRUMP, the president’s so-called memecoin, announced on Wednesday that the coin’s largest buyers would be invited to meet him. The effort was, in effect, an offer of access to the White House in exchange for an investment in one of Mr. Trump’s crypto ventures.

“Have Dinner with President Trump and the $TRUMP Community!” the invitation said. “Let the President know how many $TRUMP coins YOU own!”

However, Bookbinder warns

... unfortunately, for the most part, our ethics laws outside of the Emoluments Clauses of the Constitution don’t apply to the president. Those clauses bar the president from receiving profits, gains or advantages from foreign, state and federal governments. Unless a state, federal or foreign government purchased the $TRUMP coins, there’s very little we, or anyone, can do.

But because the buyers behind crypto transactions are generally not disclosed, foreign governments could in fact be buying these coins, meaning that Trump could be violating the Constitution without the public finding out. Individuals or special interests could also be buying the coins in the hopes of directly influencing presidential decisions that will affect all of us. Here, too, the public likely wouldn’t know.

Nonetheless, the man whose colleagues enjoy calling "Stephen A." says

Whether you're an elected politician or someone who likes to do business with him, you're going to have to recognize you're going to have to appease him to some degree....

And that's what you're going to have to learn about him, if you don't already know. If you want to do business with him, you're going to have to make sure that you're ready to engage at some level of capitulation.

Appease and capitulate? Joe Scarborough/Mika Brzezinski tried that. Bill Maher recently tried that. But the man is a politician and actor. As a successful politician, he knows the importance of making you feel appreciated or respected. As an actor, he pulls it off without a hitch.  

Al Gore also spoke nicely to Trump, when the month after Trump was first elected "I had a lengthy and very productive session with the president-elect. It was a sincere search for areas of common ground.... I found it an extremely interesting conversation, and to be continued."

After continued discussions, Gore woke up, as the former vice-president realized "I think he has made it abundantly clear that he's throwing his lot in with the climate deniers."

Yet, Smith wants to appease, and capitulate to, President Trump. It worked so well for a British prime minister 85-90 years ago. Why not try it again?

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