How quaint it seems that in 1958, a gift made from a bolt of Vicuña hide valued at $70.00 and fashioned into a coat worth approximately $700.00 caused the downfall of Sherman Adams, the very powerful Chief of Staff to President Dwight Eisenhower.
Compare that to the $400-million Boeing Jet, the Emir of Qatar has, apparently, dangled in front of President Donald Trump. While it isn’t entirely clear whether President Trump approached Qatar or the Emir of Qatar approached President Trump, it does seem clear that the goliath 747 would technically be a gift to the Trump Administration. It is doubtful that President Trump would want the plane for his personal use after leaving the White House. It is absurdly expensive to fly, which is probably why the Qataris are eager to gift the plane to President Trump in the first place. Then again, the plane would unquestionably constitute a great tourist attraction for President Trump’s future presidential library.
Gifts to politicians or members of their staff were not so unusual back in the Eisenhower era, nor were they illegal unless there was a pretty clear quid per quo. As it turns out, businessman Bernard Goldfine, who gifted the Vicuña coat to Mr. Adams, had been a close friend of the Adams family for twenty years. Mr. Goldstein did, however, have issues before the Federal Trade Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the appearance of impropriety could be as deadly to a career back then as it could be today.
When President Eisenhower heard about the vicuña coat Bernard Goldfine sent to Sherman Adams, or more accurately, when he heard the buzz that the gift was given to secure favor and access within the White House, he went ballistic.
“If anyone ever comes to any part of this Government... claiming some privilege... on the basis that he is part of my family or of my friends, that he has any connection with the White House, he is to be thrown out instantly... I can’t believe that anybody on my staff would ever be guilty of an indiscretion. But if ever anything came to my attention of that kind…that individual would be gone.”
And so ended the Sherman Adams connection to the Eisenhower White House. The appearance of impropriety has always been as dangerous to a political career as real impropriety. The Sherman Adams contretemps over a gift from an old friend of a vicuña coat worth seven hundred dollars seems laughable when viewed through today’s largess of the Trump family meme coins, known as the “$TRUMP”. While $Trump meme coins have no intrinsic value, as I write this column, the $TRUMP meme coins are, apparently, worth, in total, $266 billion. They can be used to speculate on the movement of the $Trump coin and, if one holds enough of them, one can, in effect, buy access to the President of the United States…over dinner, no less.
According to the promotional language hawking the $Trump meme coin, the top 220 owners of his cryptocurrency will be invited to enjoy a black-tie-optional dinner at his golf course a few miles from the White House, followed by a private tour of the White House the next day. Of the 220 winners, the top 25 will be invited to a private reception with President Trump. According to Peabody Award-winning White House Correspondent Laura Barron-Lopez, recent estimates suggest the Trump family and its partners have made $320 million in trading fees since the President's $Trump coin launched.
The concern is that foreign governments or wealthy individuals who want to curry favor with the President have four main avenues for accomplishing that goal: (1) cryptocurrency, (2) new real estate deals, (3) Trump Media, which runs the President's media app TRUTH SOCIAL, or (4) direct payments at social clubs, hotels, and golf courses run by the Trump family.
So, in addition to the President's coin, President Trump’s sons, Eric and Donald Trump Jr., and Zach Witkoff, the son of Trump's Middle East envoy, are reportedly leading the Trump family's firm, World Liberty Financial.
The $TRUMP meme coin site hasn't disclosed the identities of the 220 top holders, who, under the promotion, are in line to dine with Mr. Trump. Tony Carrk, the executive director of watchdog group Accountable US, expressed concern because those holders are "shrouded” by their anonymous crypto usernames."
"A ton of these users sent funds to international exchanges," noted Austin Ryan, director of marketing for Inca Digital, which analyzes crypto data for risk issues like liquidity and front-running (dealing with advance information not generally available to the public). "The thought is that if they interact with those exchanges, they are not in the U.S."
According to the $TRUMP meme coin website, the dinner will reportedly occur on May 22 at the Trump National Golf Club in Washington, D.C. The top 25 holders will "enjoy” a Private VIP Reception with President TRUMP and a "Special VIP Tour of the White House.”
President Trump’s son, Eric Trump, referred to the $TRUMP coin as "the hottest digital meme on earth." Really, you can’t make up this stuff.
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Recent podcasts have featured my commentary on Liz Cheney’s book, “Oath and Honor,” as well as my commentaries regarding:
U.S. Representative Jim Jordan,
Brian Kemp and Those Republicans of Georgia,
The Trump Indictments,
The Fox Corp Settlement,
The CNN Trump Town Hall,
The Hunter Biden plea deal,
The New American Cult of Personality,
and my interviews with William Bratton, Retired Chief of Police in New York City, Los Angeles, and Boston;
Rikki Klieman, Attorney, Network News Analyst, and best-selling author;
John Thoresen, Executive Director, Barbara Sinatra Children’s Center;
Katherine Gehl, co-author of The Politics Industry and founder of the Institute for Political Innovation;
