The Genuflection of the Powerful

An Imagined Account. Written as fiction. But fiction grounded in everything we know about the man at the head of the table: what he wants, what he feeds on, and what he has always been.

FADE IN

INT. THE WHITE HOUSE — STATE DINING ROOM — EVENING

A long table. Crystal. China. Gold leaf on everything. The wealthiest people in the world are seated, quiet, waiting. The door opens.

DONALD TRUMP enters. The room rises.

He pauses. Surveys the faces. Gates. Zuckerberg. Cook. Pichai. Altman. Every one of them worth more than some countries. Every one of them standing.

TRUMP (V.O.) 

Look at them. All of them. Standing. They didn't used to do that — not for me. They used to look down their noses. The Silicon guys. The tech guys. Very smart, they said. Very, very smart. Now look.

He sits. Everyone sits.

INT. THE WHITE HOUSE — STATE DINING ROOM — CONTINUOUS

The first course arrives. DAVID SACKS, Trump's AI and crypto czar, leans forward.

SACKS 

It's an honor, Mr. President. What you've done has been tremendous.

The room nods. Trump smiles — the slow, savoring kind.

TRUMP (V.O.) 

David knows. David gets it. That's why I picked him. He knows how this works. You say the right things, you stay in the room. You stay in the room, you stay in the game. Tremendous. I like that word. I've always liked that word.

MARK ZUCKERBERG, seated to Trump's right, speaks. Talks about investment. Data centers. American jobs. Thanks the President for "setting the right tone."

ZUCKERBERG 

We're committed to this, Mr. President. Setting the right tone — that starts at the top.

He holds his napkin tight. Trump notices.

TRUMP (V.O.) 

Mark. Little Mark. He banned my accounts, you know. Banned me. The President of the United States — banned. And now he's here, thanking me, and he's nervous. I can see it. The way he holds the napkin. Good. He should be nervous. He should be very, very nervous.

GERELYN GILBERT-SOTO, Sergey Brin's girlfriend, speaks up. The room shifts, slightly uncomfortable.

GILBERT-SOTO 

I just have to say — I'm starstruck. Being here, in your presence — it's amazing.

A beat of silence. SERGEY BRIN shifts in his seat.

TRUMP (V.O.) 

Starstruck. She's starstruck. By me. And Sergey — one of the richest men in the world — he's sitting right there, and his own girlfriend is the one who has to say it first. He couldn't even do it himself. Interesting. Very interesting. I'll remember that.

Trump smiles. Reaches out. His hand rests lightly over hers for just a second too long.

TRUMP 

That’s very kind of you.

She freezes. Sergey Brin starts to lean forward — then stops. He leans back slowly. Says nothing.

The discomfort isn’t loud. It spreads silently.  Everyone noticed. No one intervened.

Brin clears his throat. Interrupts his girlfriend. His voice is earnest, almost eager.

BRIN 

What you did with Venezuela — the pressure on Maduro — that was phenomenal. Phenomenal for an American president. And there's a lot of civil rights work that you're leading, we didn't get a chance to mention.

Trump's eyes flicker. Just for a moment.

TRUMP (V.O.) Civil rights. He said civil rights. Sergey Brin. Google. Said it right there, in the White House, in front of everyone. Now that — that's going to play beautifully. That's going to be enormous. I wonder if he even knows what he just gave me. Doesn't matter. I'll take it.

SUNDAR PICHAI speaks. Calm. Measured. Precise.

PICHAI 

This is one of the most transformative moments any of us have ever seen. And your leadership, Mr. President — it's what's making it possible.

TRUMP (V.O.) 

Sundar. Very polite. Very careful. He's the one who runs Google — the real Google, not Sergey. And he's thanking me for leadership. Leadership. That's the word. They know who's leading now. They all know.

LISA SU, CEO of AMD, speaks next.

SU 

The acceleration under your watch in the semiconductor industry has been incredible, Mr. President. Truly incredible.

TRUMP (V.O.) 

Incredible. Another good word. They're all using the good words tonight. Incredible, tremendous, phenomenal. I taught them that. They didn't used to talk like this. Now they do. Because it works. It works on me — I know it works on me — and they know it works on me, and I know they know. And we all sit here, and it's beautiful.

SATYA NADELLA speaks. Thoughtful. Diplomatic.

NADELLA 

You've championed market access in a way no one has before. U.S. leadership in AI — that's your doing, Mr. President.

TRUMP (V.O.) 

Satya. Microsoft. Bill Gates is sitting right there — Bill Gates, who used to be the richest man in the world — and his guy, his company's guy, is thanking me. Bill's going to have to top that. And he will. They all will. That's how this works.

SAM ALTMAN speaks. Animated. Almost reverent.

ALTMAN 

You're a pro-business, pro-innovation President. A refreshing change. U.S. leadership in AI — it wouldn't be happening without your leadership.

TRUMP (V.O.) 

Sam. Sam who came crying to me, basically. Sam who needed the government. Needed me. And now he's saying it wouldn't be happening without me. Because it wouldn't be. He knows it. I know it. Everyone in this room knows it. This is power. This is what power actually looks like.

TIM COOK speaks. Quiet. Careful. The room leans in.

COOK 

Thank you for setting the tone, Mr. President. Apple is announcing a six-hundred-billion-dollar investment in the United States. That starts with your leadership.

A murmur around the table.

TRUMP (V.O.) 

Six hundred billion. He said six hundred billion. In America. Because of me. Tim Cook — Apple — the guy with the turtleneck and the calm voice — he's sitting here thanking Donald Trump. Steve Jobs would have never done this. Steve Jobs would have never set foot in this room. But Tim does. Because Tim is smart. Tim is very, very smart.

SAFRA CATZ, CEO of Oracle, speaks.

CATZ 

You recognized this right away, Mr. President. What you're doing — across every cabinet post — it's making it possible for America to win.

TRUMP (V.O.) 

Making it possible for America to win. That's the line. That's the whole thing right there. They get it now. They all get it. I'm not just the President. I'm the reason. And they're sitting here telling me — in my house, on my china — that I'm the reason. This is a very, very good dinner.

INT. THE WHITE HOUSE — STATE DINING ROOM — LATER

The plates have been cleared. The room is quieter now. BILL GATES speaks. The last of the major figures.

GATES 

It's been incredible leadership, Mr. President. Truly. I'd love to talk about what we might do together — on health care, on disease. There's so much we could accomplish.

Trump holds Gates's gaze for a long beat. Then nods — slowly, deliberately.

TRUMP (V.O.) 

Bill. Bill Gates. The richest man — or one of them. And he's here. He's here thanking me. Bill Gates, who I used to joke about, who used to think he was above all of this. And tonight he's sitting at my table, in my house, telling me about incredible leadership. Incredible leadership. Bill Gates said that about me. Tonight.

(beat)

I'm going to remember tonight for a very long time.

The camera holds on Trump's face. He lifts his glass. Smiles.

FADE TO BLACK.

This is, of course, imagined. No one knows what Donald Trump was thinking in that moment. But we know what he has always wanted — the recognition, the deference, the proof that power bends. And on that night, in that room, surrounded by the wealthiest and most influential figures in the world, he got all of it. Handed to him, freely, one thank-you at a time.

¨The powerful do not kneel before strength. They kneel before the fear of what strength might do to them.¨

Please watch the video as it took place on September 4, 2025 : https://youtu.be/WYyaNm7UqFQ?si=JhoysTsWrtw6f817 

Thanks for reading. Abrazos.

Diego Rojas