This Weekend in Politics, Bulletin 51

… Trump launched his crypto and Tik Tok scams the weekend before taking office, both designed to enrich himself, family members and cronies’ net worth exponentially while doing no work and producing nothing of value for humanity. He’s had endless scams before over the years, but these may end up being the biggest ones yet.

… CNN reported that Trump’s 80% stake in his new Crypto is now worth $25 billion after one day of trading. Not a bad payday for having to do absolutely nothing for it.

… From a non-partisan account on X that monitors and warns the public about Crypto scams: “I sign off for 24 hours, and Donald Trump has dropped what might be the biggest grift in crypto meme coin history: $TRUMP. Days before taking the presidency, he launches a coin with 80% allocated to him, unlocking over the next 3–12 months and throughout his presidency. Does he want the presidency—or just to scam? Buckle up, wild times are here.”

… After Trump fans complained about his post, he followed up with this: “This page is about as apolitical as it gets, but when I see the future president of the free world launching an 80%-allocated meme coin, I’m going to speak on it. Use your brain and move beyond your algorithmically driven ideology for a moment.”

… Another internet scam monitor posted this: “Dropping TRUMP memecoin 2 days before becoming president is nasty work. The new SEC/DOJ guarantees no prosecution. 80% of tokens vest to insiders DURING the presidency. Most people losing money will be MAGA who aren't crypto native. Should be a crime, but crime is legal now, I guess?”

… Trump posted this on Twitter in 2019: “I am not a fan of Bitcoin and other Cryptocurrencies, which are not money, and whose value is highly volatile and based on thin air. Unregulated Crypto Assets can facilitate unlawful behavior, including drug trade and other illegal activity.” But once someone explained to him how he could scam many billions by doing nothing, he quickly became a fan.

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… Then Trump got busy with his Tik Tok scam, where he played arsonist taking advantage of his own fire. I predicted in this column last week that Tik Tok would shut down their app on Saturday to get users panicked while blaming the Biden Admin, despite the fact that Biden already said he will not enforce the ban. Then Trump would come in to act like he’s their savior Then they would turn their app back on, praise Trump, and he would claim all the credit.

… Which is exactly how it went down this weekend. Tik Tok shut down their own app and posted a statement on Saturday night saying that they hope Trump will save them. Then at 7:03 AM on Sunday, Trump posts: “SAVE TIKTOK!” Tik Tok then turns their app back on and praises Trump (who did nothing). Trump then reveals his grift, which is the reason behind the whole scam: “I would like the US to have a 50% ownership position in a joint venture. Without US approval, there is no TikTok. With our approval, it is worth 100s of billions, maybe trillions.”

… He knows the US government is not allowed to do this. This is about forcing them to sell 50% of the company to his cronies where he gets a substantial cut. That is what’s going on here, along with trying to fool millions of Tik Tok creators/users that Trump saved their small businesses and daily social media experience.

… Tik Tok then sent this message to all their users: “Thank you for your patience and support. As a result of President Trump’s efforts, TikTok is back in the US!” Sounds exactly like something that would get posted by Chinese state media about Xi.

… Charlie Kirk then posted: “Trump saved TikTok! Gen Z voters should remember this.”

… Elon Musk let us know what he is looking for in this shady deal: “The current situation where Tik Tok is allowed to operate in America, but X is not allowed to operate in China, is unbalanced. Something needs to change.”

… The absurd thing about this whole saga is that Trump was the first one to call for a Tik Tok ban. He tried to ban it himself years ago with an executive order but it was overturned by the courts. Then Republicans filed the bill which ultimately passed with some Dem support after it was weakened. But Biden signed it, so now they can blame him for the ban, with the guy who started the whole thing “saving” it.

… But I don’t think it’s going to work because of how absurdly obvious and political this was on their part. The whole rollout of propaganda was hamfisted and clumsy. Many TikTok influencers are posting that this whole thing was a scam by Trump and the Tik Tok CEO, and this could backfire on Trump if that narrative continues to grow - which is an honest narrative.

… Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT): “Tik Tok is tucking itself in with Trump. Twitter under control of the White House. Facebook making major changes to placate MAGA and doing a PR campaign to align with Trump. Does everyone not see what’s happening here and how terrifying this is?” Well, readers of my Bulletins see it. Not sure how many other people do.

… Editor of conservative The Blaze Daniel Horowitz: “How about cutting off visas from China in exchange for restoring tik tok? Do we even believe our own talking points about China, or was that also just politics as an end to itself?”

… Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL): “It was a major bipartisan deal. But look, this is part of Trump's brilliance that Democrats have constantly not understood and have undervalued, which is he comes in now and he gets to play savior. Right. He's going to make the grand bargain deal. I hope. Whatever deal it is. And if he wants to sell it to Kevin O'Leary and make TikTok wonderful, that’s fine with me. I want it to exist. I want TikTok to be owned by an American company so we can get rid of the CCP having access to American data. That is a national security risk.”

… Trump is also pitted against many Republicans in Congress on this, who have been adamant that the ban should be enforced immediately. Tom Cotton has been especially outspoken about that this week, but he hasn’t mentioned Trump’s name yet once. I suspect he will suddenly go silent on this from this point forward. For some reason.

… Sen. Dave McCormick on Fox this morning: “From a national security perspective, you cannot have the communist Chinese controlling and owning Tik Tok when we have 170 million users in the US - controlling that messaging, that data.”

… Bloomberg reports that 6 of the 10 richest people in the world have met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago recently: Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Sergey Brin, Bill Gates, Larry Ellison, and Elon Musk.

… Steve Bannon to ABC: "President Trump broke the oligarchs. I view this as September of 1945, the USS Missouri and you have the Japanese Imperial High Command ... and he's like Douglas MacArthur. That is an official surrender."

… Gavin Newsom sent Mike Johnson a letter imploring him not to play politics with wildfire aid: “In times of natural disaster - from Hurricane Katrina to Hurricane Helene - Americans have always stood together, setting aside politics to extend a helping hand to those in need. Historically, federal disaster aid has been provided without conditions, recognizing that political calculations or regional divides should not encumber relief efforts.”

… Mike Johnson was asked on Meet the Press if he could commit that CA wildfire victims will receive aid with no strings attached: “No, I won’t commit to that when state and local officials make foolish policy decisions that make the disaster exponentially worse, we need to factor that in.”

… Sen. Chris Murphy on the inauguration: “Trump canceled the outdoor inauguration because the Mall was going to be empty and totally embarrassing, and all he cares about are the tech bros and the ruling class billionaires anyway, so it’s better if they are the only ones in the room.”

… Trump’s WH Press Sec Karoline Leavitt was asked on Fox to respond to rumors that the inauguration was moved indoors because Trump was afraid of assassination: “Unequivocally false. The inauguration was moved indoors because he wants to protect his supporters. It is going to be frigid tomorrow.”

… Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO) to his Republican constituents on Trump canceling his outdoor inauguration event because it is too cold: “My congressional office was glad to provide inauguration tickets to hundreds of Coloradans, but these tickets are now strictly commemorative due to the President-elect’s decision to not allow you to attend the ceremonies.”

… Crow continued: “I know many Coloradans spent thousands of dollars on hotels and airfare to attend the inauguration. Please know that the Inaugural Committee has not shared any information about refunds. If you believe you should receive a refund, please contact the President-elect.” He then posted the Inaugural Committee’s website if they wanted to request a refund.

… Next-level trolling by Crow, knowing that there is no possible way Trump would ever refund anything to anyone.

… Breitbart Editor Matthew Boyle said today that the one inauguration event Trump supporters get to attend after he canceled the main one because it was cold has been a mess: “It’s a logistical nightmare outside the Capital One Arena right now. Thousands of Trump supporters have been waiting for hours and hours in freezing rain and snow is about to start very soon in DC.”

… Trump groupie Brick Suit, who has attended every single Trump event for years all over the country: “Tomorrow's rally is probably the most challenging rally I've ever attended due to a combination of: •Urban Location •Lack of parking •Street closures •Weather •Demand for seats.”

… Mike Lindell also rolled into DC. He told right-wing RSBN that Democrats stole the election from 4 Senators in 2024, 7 representatives, and lot of judges around the country. But for some reason we apparently decided to let Trump win.

… But prominent MAGA pastor and evangelical activist Lance Wallnau has concerns about the other events too: “A decision was made today to move inauguration indoors to a hockey area. Today in our prayer zoom, a 7 year old boy last week in Guatemala had a dream that Trump was shot on live TV in a hockey arena. A month ago, another Prophet said Trump will be attacked in a hockey arena.”

… MAGA influencer Catturd said that his truck hit a deer on his way to inauguration parties, which “ran out in front of me and crushed my front in.” He then said that might make him late or have to miss some of the festivities.

… Last year, Catturd ran over and killed his own dog with his truck.

… Catturd also posted he was unhappy that Snoop Dogg was going to perform at an inauguration party: “This POS doesn’t belong anywhere near a MAGA event.”

… Kid Rock said Trump called him after he went on Fox & Friends and said he was told by the Secret Service that he can’t have strippers on stage during his performance: “Trump said, ‘Did the Secret Service really tell you that you can’t use strippers?’ I said no, I was just joking around.” Trump was probably disappointed.

… Texas Megachurch Founder Richard Jeffress to Fox: “I believe most evangelicals view Trump’s reelection with a feeling of gratitude to God. To many people, Trump’s reelection represents God giving America another chance - perhaps her last chance - to reverse the downward trajectory.”

… Trump was reportedly upset at Mike Johnson after he told House Intel Chair Mike Turner that “concerns from Mar-a-Lago” was one reason why he was being removed. Politico is reporting that Johnson tried to give other reasons, but when he included that Trump wanted Turner gone, which an angry Turner promptly leaked to the press, that infuriated Trump because Turner and his friends in the House are now blaming him.

… Of course, spineless MAGA Mike had to blame it on someone else and couldn’t follow the plan. He is far too weak to stand up and tell Turner he was firing him on his own, so had to put the blame on Trump. There is no doubt Trump was the prime mover on Turner, but Johnson and Turner didn’t like each other and Johnson seized on this to get rid of Turner - but only off the Intel Committee because Turner is still in Congress.

… One furious Republican staffer: “Mike Turner is not going to go gently into that good night. It is frustrating when we have a two-seat majority and you’re angering and embarrassing a very volatile member for what appears to be minimal gain.”

… The Politico story also noted that Trump may not have been happy with Turner because he harshly criticized Trump for stealing classified documents.

… Trump advisor and Newsmax host Dick Morris on Trump’s appointment of Mel Gibson, Jon Voight, and Sylvester Stallone as his ‘Ambassadors to Hollywood’: “He’s going to work with them to try to change Hollywood and to try to change the counterculture that dominates it .. and remove the efforts of the Left to indoctrinate young people, and all Americans, through mass media.”

… Jon Voight to right-wing Gateway Pundit on what he would like to change about Hollywood in his new role: “It needs to get back to good stories. Common sense and good stories and morality. We can find it again. We need to find ourselves again.”

… Trump nominated TN Schools Chief Penny Schwinn to be his Dep. Secretary of Education. Trump also got her name wrong in his Truth Social post making the big announcement, calling her ‘Peggy Schwinn’. Schwinn has had a tumultuous term in TN - 20% of the employees of the TN Dept of Education left during her first 9 months on the job - most from resignations.

… But some MAGA education activists are not happy with the choice. JC Bowman, Exec Director of conservative Professional Educators of TN to Chalkbeat: “If anybody looked into her background, they would say she was not a fit for this administration. So I didn’t see it coming. Whoever vetted her needs to be vetted.”

… MAGA activist Riley Gaines: “As a Tennessean, it’s a no for me. On top of child well-being checks, Schwinn brought CRT to TN schools in full force.” Right-wingers are against the “well-being checks” because sometimes these are made by state education workers on home schooled children and they feel that is threatening to parents and interferes with their home school experience.

… Trump’s billionaire appointees are buying up expensive homes in DC over the past few weeks. DYNUZ reports that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick just bought Fox host Bret Baier’s French Chateau-style home for $25 million. TRR Sotheby’s Jim Bell: “We’ve really been overwhelmed by the wealth factor that has come to Washington since the election.” He said agents don’t have enough high-end homes available so they have started calling their DC clients and asking if they’d be interested in selling at more than their houses are worth.

… The story also says that Elon Musk is moving to DC and he is trying to buy the Line Hotel and turn it into a private club for himself and his new MAGA friends.

… The net worth of Trump’s political appointees is substantially more than the appointees from his first Administration, which was the wealthiest on average in history.

… Politico is reporting that several Republican governors are prepared to activate their National Guard units to help Trump with his mass deportation efforts if asked. Governors Bill Lee (TN), Tate Reeves (MS), and Ron Desantis (FL) have each said they are willing to pull people in their states away from their full time jobs to send them to Deportation Czar Tom Homan to hunt down migrants.

… Journalist Anne Applebaum wrote in the Atlantic about her trip to Denmark: “What did Donald Trump say over the phone to Mette Frederiksen, the Danish prime minister, on Wednesday? I don’t know which precise words he used, but I witnessed their impact … the adjective that was most frequently used to describe the Trump phone call was rough. The verb most frequently used was threaten.”

… More from Applebaum: “Trump made it clear to Frederiksen that he is serious about Greenland: He sees it, apparently, as a real-estate deal.”

… Denmark is the home of several global companies, including shipping giant Maersk, and Novo Nordisk (the maker of Ozempic), which do billions of dollars worth of trade with the US every year. It seems that Trump is threatening to end that if they don’t hand over Greenland. Frederiksen: “It has been suggested from the American side that unfortunately a situation may arise where we work less together than we do today in the economic area.”

… Sen. Ted Cruz has introduced a bill to exempt tips of employees for up to $25,000 per year to be tax exempt. Several Republicans immediately signed on as co-sponsors, although many others expressed skepticism because of the impact that would have on the deficit. 40% workers in the US receive at least some tips at their jobs.

… Probably no surprise that the one Democrat who has co-sponsored Ted’s bill is Sen. Jacky Rosen, who represents NV, grew up in Las Vegas, and worked her way through college as a server at Caesar’s Palace. Rosen said as long as the minimum wage and sub-minimum wage for tipped employees remains so low, she will do everything she can to raise their take home pay - including a tax cut.

… Trump’s Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee was asked on Fox if he thought a two-state solution was possible to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: “No. We have to recognize there was a Palestinian state. It was called Gaza. Look how that turned out.” For the people who made protest votes against Kamala Harris because of this issue - you will note that Huckabee used the word “was”, a word that Harris would never use in that context. Well, now you got Huckabee.

… CPAC Founder Mercedes Schlapp, whose husband Matt had to settle a lawsuit where he allegedly grabbed the penis of a male Herschel Walker staffer in 2022 while he was giving him a ride home, took a photo with MAGA rapper Forgatio Blow and posted it saying how excited she was to get to meet Jelly Roll. I guess rappers with face tattoos all look alike. She later deleted the tweet.