All joking aside, what would you do if you met the president face to face?

1. Nonsensical. Drumpf would not hold the door open for anyone. Not even his trophy wife.
2. Pretend to attend, and then just not show up. Let him wait for nothing.
3. Tell him to fuck off.

I’d consult my wise elders for advice on how to be to have the impact that would be for the highest good.

(I agree with @ragingloli that if someone who looked like Trump were holding the door for me, I could only think it were an impersonator or a publicity stunt.)

I would tell him that his actions against transgender people hurt my child and I’m very disappointed in him.

Your last paragraph is just rude.

That said, in the scenarios you mention, #1 is so implausible as to not be addressed, Secret Service would not allow that to happen.

#2 I simply would decline the invitation.

#3 if he saw me in the hospital, I would be brief and polite and suggest he turn his attention to the injured parties.

In general I would avoid all contact if possible.

One may not respect the man but one must respect the office, like it or not.

If he came to visit me in the hospital I like to think that I would calmly express that my injuries will be considered pre-existing conditions and that he is a hypocrite for showing up at my bedside and pretending to have respect for me while simultaneously aiming to cause great harm to people with such conditions.

In reality I would probably be too intimidated by the SS to say anything brave. I’d be as curt as possible with him and wait for the experience to be over.

I’ve thought about this, actually, and my honest answer is that I would prefer not to see him or speak to him about anything, at any time, for any reason.

In general I’d rather not meet anyone with whom I feel that I could not have a cordial or at least civil exchange. He is not the only one. Situations like that, and political situations especially, are not for me.

I’d talk to him candidly, honestly and without restraint. Man to man so to speak, as an equal. I would shake his hand and pick his brain. First I’d assess his psychology in a way you can only do face to face. Then I would enter a dialog with him where we discuss the important issues and I would determine where we disagree without revealing my positions. I would then objectively pick apart where we disagree and attempt to implant seeds of doubt where they need to be planted. I would also re-asses my own positions based on the responses I have been given. I’m not intimidated by authority or position in any way, never have been. I have always found these encounters to be profound learning experiences. Meeting top leaders is a treat and usually it’s humbling and positive. Not something to be missed. Often, I find they change my mind. As much as Mr. Trump appears to be an ass, I can’t tell you how much I’d like to converse with him if anything to satisfy my own curiosity.

There aren’t many people whom I have less respect for. I wouldn’t shake his hand, let him hold a door for me, and I would tell him to leave if he tried to visit me ANYWHERE.

@canidmajor, my last paragraph is not rude. It is a factual assessment of precisely how many on fluther present themselves. And is the very reason I asked this question, because the behavior is so obsessive, immature, volatile, I have difficulty believing some are adults. I was hoping I would be proven wrong through some mature, intelligent answers to this question.

@Mariah, I feel your answer to be probably the most honest I will get.

My examples above, as I already stated, are only examples.
Imagine something which might fit your own lives.
It is pointless to pick apart my examples, because their sole purpose is to jump start the brain for anyone struggling to imagine a when/where/ how.

My answer was completely honest. I fight every day for the safety of my child. I moved to a different state for the safety of my child.

I frankly don’t know what I would do were I in the same room with the man and compelled to interact conversationally. Whatever possible insights to be derived from a personal conversation with Trump are impossible to predict or plan for. I suppose I might raise the topic of whatever mess he has entangled himself in at the time of our meeting. It actually wouldn’t matter that I would have little to say, since there is no doubt that he would do ALL the talking. In the end, I can’t imagine any variation from either of my 2 standard reactions to the Donald. Is he to be reviled or pitied?

The OP said, “all joking aside.” I didn’t joke. I cannot think of a scenario, where I would even acknowledge his presence. If we were stuck in an elevator, I’d ignore him. If he persisted, I might punch him in his mouth.

No jokes. He’d be wise to steer clear of me.

The OP is assessing and rating the honesty of people who state in apparent good faith that they are answering honestly. It seems that most of us are falling short. Maybe it’s because we’re just behaving like monkeys, according to one person’s precise factual assessment.

Tuning out now.

I picture jellies behaving like monkeys if a face to face meeting occurred.

Because we owe respect and decorum to President GRAB HER PUSSY!!!

I would tell him he and every one one of his voters has brought shame on our country.

I can be very passionate here at Fluther about things that are important to me, especially topics that concern my child. If you were to meet me in person you’d meet a completely different person. I’m calm, quiet, polite and reserved. I never go apeshit in public.

@Aethelwine, I wish I could meet that person.

I would be polite to President Trump, just as I would have been polite to President Obama, whom I did not care for. It’s always appropriate to respect the position, even if you do not respect the person.

@snowberry, I believe you would. Probably you would start a story telling for him. :-D

@all, my phone is pulling this unrelated word substitution again, so responding to each individual is tough, but thanks to those who have approached my question seriously.

If he held the door for me I would say thank you.

If he came to visit me at the hospital I would say thank you for coming.

If I was invited to the White House to acknowledge something I did, I would be conflicted, but I think I would go.

My husband’s citizenship paper has President Clinton’s signature, and he is very glad about that. His sister has Bush 2 and she wishes it was a different President on her document. She still values the document though.

The question reminds me of the synagogue shooting and how some people did not want Trump to attend the services for those who were killed. I personally thought he should offer to go, and I think it would be an honor to have the president at such a tragic event, but I completely understand why some people didn’t want him there.

A lot of people hated Obama. Just yesterday I was talking to someone and I said during the conversation, “I believe all the presidents in my lifetime wanted the best for America,” and she replied, “even Obama?” I said, “definitely.” She said some crap about him being empathetic to Muslims and something else. If her loved ones had been shot dead (God forbid) in a mass shooting during the time Obama was president, and she didn’t want Obama to go to the service, I would have thought she was being ridiculous.

I would probably call the police. Donald Trump is an admitted sexual predator. This is not a joke, any more than rape is a joke.

I met President Nixon once a long time ago. Way before it was trendy to think of him as the elder statesmen, or recognition of the many good things he did. I learned a very valuable life lesson from him, which I try to do to this day: standing up to greet someone with a handshake, regardless of who it is.

If I were to meet Trump by chance or circumstance, I would enjoy the opportunity of having met another President of the US of A. Regardless of how I feel about him, I would be polite, and, if given the chance, have a few questions for him.

I met the prime minister of Canada when I was in college. We got in a hand sqeesing contest that lasted 15 seconds. It was amazing to meet someone who was as tall as I was.

@kritiper Every day this country fails to impeach, imprison, or in any other way rid itself of Trump is a grave insult to “the office”. His appointments, acts, language, and other abuses have more often than not been insults to “the office”.

“Walk on By.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AO073fekFfA

I’d greet him with a fist bump because handshakes are way too formal & stuffy, then most likely talk about golf & house staff. He’d have to excuse the occasional giggle due to his appearance & general demeanour because i’m very immature & childish like that.

That’s as honest a reflection as I can give, unlike the keyboard warriors here who are all talk, in reality, most of you would behave like starstruck little people & betray the bolshoi nature of your hysterical ramblings dished out away from his ear.

All joking aside, you are being rude when you say trump haters here are immature and volatile.

That creature in the WH doesn’t deserve any respect. Not an iota of anything resembling respect.

I doubt I would talk to him.

The question reminds me of the synagogue shooting and how some people did not want Trump to attend the services for those who were killed. I personally thought he should offer to go

The synagogue shooter was very specifically inspired by Trump’s hateful rhetoric towards immigrants.

@Patty_Melt, you are unbelievably naive if you assume that the distaste we display for someone on an anonymous internet forum, during a discussion, is an indicator of how we would behave in person. If you would behave the same way to a stranger’s face, you have no manners.

@Zaku That goes without saying.

@Call_Me_Jay If I remember correctly at least one of the rabbis at the synagogue welcomed the visit from the president.

If Trump had not attempted to go, people would have been all over that saying Trump showed no sympathy for the families.

@yesitszen I’m glad you had an actual experience with this sort of situation. Makes me feel better about my answer. I felt a little conflicted when I wrote it, but I just tried to think how would I likely act in the moment. In a moment when I wouldn’t have much time think.

@canidmajor Thank you for saying that. I don’t believe I’d have over 40k lurve for being a jerk for the past 10 years on Fluther. Most of you know I have a kind heart. I may not handle the most difficult times of my life well on the internet but it’s no indicator of how I present myself irl, and I have no problem apologizing for when I know I’ve fucked up.

I tend to avoid people I dislike or don’t respect and if I was invited to the White House to meet Trump I would politely decline.

If I did encounter Trump it would be by accident. It would be like coming across a snake by the side of the road. I would tiptoe gingerly around it and then carry on my way.

When you meet people from forums in real life they are almost never what you think. I would assume Trump is no different. Even if you hate the man why not talk to him? Why be so closed as to pass up the experience?

^If I thought he would listen to me, and perhaps even consider any of my ideas, I might talk to him. But he doesn’t listen to other people. He just runs his mouth thinking his words are mightier than any others. So I would pass up the experience because I already know the outcome.

I’d dress sexy, go in for my hug and knee him in the taint haha. Just kidding.

I’d shake his hand and tell him he’s a nut while laughing. Like @snowberry, I would be respectful to all Presidents, no question.

Appointed officials deserve NO respect. Rhetoric, behavior, and actions define a person. In Trump’s case, he has defined himself as a terrible person. And I would treat him accordingly.

This is similar to saying that I should respect Bill Cosby, because of his fame, while ignoring his actions.

Or respect Hitler, because he was the leader of Germany.

Rank is only valuable, if the people respect it. There is NOTHING to respect about Trump. Nothing. At this point, I don’t respect his supporters either…

Respect is earned. When thrown away, it’s nearly impossible to get back. Trump threw his respect away many years before becoming POTUS.

For those of you who never listened to Trump on Howard Stern, I invite you to go back and find the interviews. He’s always been a narcissistic, loud mouthed, liar. I’m not sure if there is a more self absorbed moron, in the world.

“All jokes aside,” there’s nothing funny about such an idiot exposing a third of the US as bigots, and destroying decades of diplomacy, and any semblance the US had of being a contributor to the world being a better place.

Trump is a DISGRACE. Worse, he has shown that a third of our people are as well. I’ve NEVER been so ashamed of being American. All joking aside.

Several professional sports teams have declined to visit the Whitehouse after championships. People are quite capable of seeing Trump for what he is, and turning their shoulders on him. I was disappointed that Clemson went, until I found out that they were treated to McDonald’s. The WORST food in America. What an honor!

@flutherother, amusing visual.

As for myself, I would want to talk with him. I would likely get the jitters, for gosh sakes, and stumble over every attempt to speak.

In one way I feel sorry for him. He never feels he fits in. It must seem mighty lonely at times.
He doesn’t have the gift of gab, which leaves him ridiculed.

I am not in awe of his money, but he has managed to cut a wide swath for himself over the decades, and that is enough for me to want to pick his brain.

One thing for sure, I would ask him whether there really is a secret President Book. I bet if anyone would tell, it would be him.
I would keep the secret, if there really were one, but it has my curiosity.

I would want to ask him what it was like to meet with Un.

On second thoughts, if the television cameras were on us I would like to recite this …

America, aw whit ye dain?!
How could ye choose a clueless wain
Ti lead yir country? Who wid trust
A man sae vile?!
A racist, sexist eedjit
Wi a shite hairstyle?

Yet lo, ye votit (michty me!)
Ti hawn’ this walloper the key
Ti pow’r supreme, ti stert his hateful,
Cruel regime.
A cling ti hope that this is aw
Jist wan bad dream.

But naw, the nightmare has come true,
A curse upon rid, white an’ blue,
An’ those who cast oot Bernie
Must feel sitch regret
Fur thinkin’ Mrs. Clinton
Was a safer bet.

So noo we wait ti see unfold
Division an’ intolerance, cold;
A pois’nous bigotry untold
Since Hitler’s rule
As the free world’s hopes an’ dreams
Lie with this fool.

Alas, complainin’ wullnae change
The fact this diddy has free range
Ti ride roughshod ow’r human beings
That fall outside
The cretinous ideals borne of
His ugly pride.

Awch USA, we feel yir woes
An’ pour oor wee herts oot ti those
Who ken this oarange gabshite isnae
Who they chose,
But jist sit tight; Trump’s cluelessness
Will time expose.

Fur sittin’ there beside Obama
Efter the election drama,
Trump looked like reality
Had finally hit:
Aboot the role of president
He knew Jack shit.

Poutin’, glaikit through this farce,
His mooth wis pursed up like an arse,
His Tangoed coupon glowin’ like
A skelped backside.
Despite all his bravado
Trump looked keen ti hide.

Let’s therefur no despair an’ greet,
Or see this outcome as defeat.
Let’s wait an’ watch this bampot
Flap his hawns an’ squirm
When presidential pressures
Crush him like a worm.

Hawd oan ti values you hold dear,
Don’t let this numpty bring yi fear,
His chants of hatred don’t speak fur
The human race.
Love will endure despite this
Oarange-faced disgrace.

So USA, in ma conclusion,
Know we Scots feel your confusion:
We are also chained ti those
Not of oor choosin’.
Stand firm fur unity will break
Through Trump’s delusion.

(It isn’t mine. A student at the University of Strathclyde wrote it.)

@MrGrimm888 The president is voted in, not appointed. Unless, I don’t understand what appointed means.

@JLeslie
The president is appointed by the electoral college.

@ragingloli I always think of it as voted in by the EC, not appointed. I’m not 100% sure of the vocabulary though.

^If you just have to have the words just so, Loli beat me to it. He lost. The EC appointed him. You know, because votes count SO much…..

I do want to know. I’m asking a Q.

Here’s my Q for anyone interested. https://i.fluther.com/212179/is-the-us-president-appointed-or-elected/#quip3518405

I find it interesting a Canadian and a German are so sure of the terminology used for a US president. But, I’ve been wrong before. I’m going more by what sounds correct than anything. I thought I was just helping @MrGrimm888 with the vocabulary, but maybe I’m wrong.

@JLeslie He is elected by votes. The electoral system is the delivery system we chose for our country to be fair. You are correct. He is an elected official.

@flutherother, can you credit the versifier so his fine work (wi’ a wee nod t’ Rabbie) doesn’t become the property of Anon.?

@Jeruba The poem was written by Lorna Wallace, a 24 year old Strathclyde University English graduate and its title is “A Scot’s Lament fur her American Fellows (Oan their election of a Tangerine Gabsh**te Walloper)”.

Thanks, @flutherother. A Wallace, eh? I, for one, appreciate the sympathy.

I found a video of the author reading it. Marvelous. I feel better now.

Get him to think before he tweets. Cook real food for him. I think the nonstop fast food is ruining his brain.